Lessons we have learned so far from the Covid-19 pandemic

According to Marilyn vos Savant, an American magazine columnist and playwright, “To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” And over the past few weeks, I have gained much knowledge and wisdom.

I have been a prepper for years, and thought I was totally and completely prepared for whatever came my way. And in many, many ways, I was and still am. But the events of the past few weeks have taught me quite a bit. And so I wanted to pass along what information I have gained recently in regards to future SHTF events.

Most folks, including many “preppers” will not be paying attention when SHTF

In early January, the Chinese government announced that it had a new type of virus. This news was initially met with very little fanfare from the international media. And why would it? New viruses are announced all the time. Bird flu, MERS, Ebola, etc. None of them had a major impact on the western world, and in most cases were soon forgotten.

However, when China announced in late January that it was locking down and quarantining the entire city of Wuhan, I immediately took notice. I knew right then that this would be different, and that it had the potential to directly impact the US and therefore me and my family.

Wuhan is a city of around 11,000,000 people. By way of comparison, Houston has around 3 million. So for the Chinese government to lockdown a city almost 4 times the size of Houston, this situation must be bad. Or at least have the potential to become so. Many in the prepper community, including myself, began to say something about this virus. I told my friends, family, and website visitors to pay attention to Covid-19. This was going to be different.

I fully expected a lot of people out there to blow this off. We all know that many, many non preppers will bury their head in the sand. What I did NOT expect was some of the blowback from those indiduals who say they are “preppers”. In some online prepper circles, I was mocked for saying that this was something we should be paying attention to.

“It’s just like the flu! The flu kills more people! Yada yada yada!”

These preppers were parroting the same lines that the unprepared and uninformed public were saying.

I pointed out that it wasn’t the sickness itself (which is anywhere from 10 times  more deadly than the flu) which was so concerning. It would be the potential impact on the economy and our medical infrastructure that should have us concerned. And for a time, it seemed like that fell on deaf ears. Now, with major cities (including my own) implementing things like curfews and banning large gatherings, almost everyone is taking it serious.

And despite all this, most people fully expect a complete return to normal within a few weeks. Now don’t get me wrong. I hope and pray that things return to normal quickly. But I’m also looking at the big picture. I’m watching the economy tank. I’m watching the beginnings of our medical infrastructure begin to be overloaded. Italy has begun to triage their patients, which could happen here.

I have friends who are law enforcement officers in major cities on the east coast. They are working 12 to 16 hour days, EVERY day. (I fully expect to being working daily within a week or less.) So while I hope and pray for the best, I know we are a long way from being out of the woods.

The run on supplies will not be what I expect

When it became clear that things were going to get serious, the panic buying began. It was not a shock when it started, and I completely expected it. Even the fist fights was not a surprise. What did catch me off guard was what was bought up first. I did not expect there to be a run on toilet paper and baby wipes. That was taken over food and water. At least in the beginning.

After a few days, the run on ammo and firearms began. And while that did not surprise me, the fact that the panic buying of those items before food/water was a bit of a surprise as well.

I have no idea why toilet paper was valued over things like food and water. Maybe I never will. But I certainly learned that when people panic, what they value and place importance on may not be what we expect.

There will always be those that seek to benefit off of disaster

Overall, this should surprise no one. I have helped to prevent and arrest looters after many natural disasters like tornadoes. But when individuals are spending tens of thousands of dollars to buy up hand sanitize only to try to sell it for 50 times the price, I realized just how far some folks will go to make a profit. I’m all for capitalism, and finding ways to make money. But when parents cannot find infant formula because of unscrupulous price gouging, I think it is going too far.

I had hoped that this pandemic would end the partisan bickering in our government. I had hoped that it would bring both political parties together to work for the common good of the entire country. Nope. Instead they double down, playing the blame game. Everything is politicized, even matters of life and death. Sadly, I do not see this ending anytime soon. Even if this pandemic gets worse.

In addition, I see some in government using this opportunity to try and expand their power by stomping on our Bill of Rights. This is especially true at the local and state levels, where politicians want to use this outbreak as a way to stop sales of firearms. We have seen this type of power grab before, like during Hurricane Katrina. So this is not so much of a lesson learned as it is a reminder that we must continually fight to protect our rights and liberties!

Common sense will go out the window

Again, this is not so much a lesson learned as it is a reminder. When disaster strikes, people will panic. They will not think clearly or logically. We have reports of local leaders in Florida making suggestions that border on the absurd. A city council member in Miami Beach suggested that all 1st responders be deliberately infected with Covid-19. If we want to experiment with a virus that is still greatly unknown but need “guinea pigs”, I say we start with politicians like Ricky Arriola. We have an overabundance of idiotic politicians.

In addition, we have seen people wearing things like trash bags and masks, yet touch everything with their bare hands.

I can also point to things like the fist fights over toilet paper. Panic makes people do crazy and sometimes violent things. So be prepared for it.

No matter how prepared I thought I was, there were still things I overlooked

As I mentioned before, in late January I saw the writing on the wall, and began to reassess my preps. I felt good about most of what I had. But I quickly realized I had a few holes that I needed to work on.

For starters, I had let a lot of my daily use can goods slip. Yes, I have more beans and rice stored than I can shake a fist at. But during my inventory, I noticed I did not have as many spices and condiments set back as I thought I did. I didn’t have as many cans of fruit as I thought. After checking my stocks, I realized I could use a few more cans of meat. I was a bit lean on things like powered milk and eggs.

So over the next 6 weeks, I built these stores back up. I didn’t panic buy, or try to get them all at once. Instead every week I added several more cans to my inventory. About a week before the panic started, I remember talking to my family about feeling pretty good about where we were at. And yet once the panic buying started, I realized I had forgotten to buy a few more bottles of antibiotics.

I have stressed before to always reevaluate your preps. Look at your plans and see where they can be improved. I know this first hand, and was fortunate to find many shortcomings I was able to work on before the pandemic it. But even then I missed a few areas. It happens and I have work arounds. But we should ALWAYS be reassessing our preparedness.

I had to remind myself not to join in the panic buying

Again, I am well stocked for the most part. But when I saw the run on water and ammunition, for a brief moment I wondered if I should be buying more. The self doubts of “I could use more water…ammo…etc” briefly crept into my mind. When I saw that the price of ammo was already skyrocketing, common sense kicked in and I reminded myself that was why I had been stocking up.

Of course I didn’t join in the panic buying. I have plenty. But I can easily see where the panic (much like the virus) can be contagious. It is easy to begin to have some doubt when you see others panicking. But this is one reason we prep. So that we do NOT have to panic later.

More still to come

As I mentioned before, I do not believe we are out of the woods yet. Unfortunately, I believe that it will get worse before it gets better. But I do think it will get better. It is simply a matter of how long will it take. In the mean time, I will continue to live my life with no fear, while continuing to learn and observe what is going on around me. I encourage you to do the same.

What have you learned/observed from this pandemic? Tell us about them in the comments section below.

Stay safe out there!

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