Viva la Resistance!
If you and your spouse (or you and your family) are completely aligned with the idea of prepping, you are likely a minority…savor and appreciate that. If you’re like the rest of us, your spouse or family is resistant to the idea of prepping for a whole variety of reasons.
“You’re wasting our money buying a ton of crap that we are never going to use!
“If it’s as bad as you’re saying it’s going to be, none of these preps are going to matter anyways!”
“Guns are not safe and I don’t want them in our home!”
“You’re crazy!!”
Yes, many of you have probably heard all the above arguments from spouses or family members. I personally know married couples who have divorced because of disagreements over prepping. I also know live-in family members who were threatened to leave if they did not stop talking about crazy prepping ideas. Although all the economic facts are on the table, prepping is still a relatively fringe movement even though the idea of it has gone somewhat mainstream.
Like I mention in my article Prepping: As a Father & A Protector, family is extremely important when the hard times come. Hardship is when the family bond is strengthened the most. What you do not want to do is ruin your family relationship while you still have it…regardless of whether your spouse or family is completely on board with your preparedness habits.
If you have a resistant spouse or family member, here are some simple steps to get them on board:
– Start with “Gateway Preps”. You can’t go full on prep with someone who is resistant. But you can start with some gateway preparations that may alleviate their negativity towards it. Consult your spouse or family members with some of these “gateway preps” – Fire extinguisher, fire escape ladder, road side emergency kit (food, water, medical, etc.), starting a garden, etc. These simple tasks are much less stressful than planning for a full on economic collapse and will be much easier to sell to a resistant spouse.
– Start stocking up on items they use frequently (in moderation). This could include laundry detergent, toilet paper, dish washing soap, tooth paste, feminine hygiene products, etc. Instead of needing to take a trip to the grocery store, you come to the rescue by simply heading down to the basement.
Honey, if you’re reading this then you’ve discovered how I have secretly manipulated you into prepping. Sorry & love you! At least I got you to read my articles!
– Lastly, learn the psychology of the situation. Some people will not budge even if you present them with cold hard facts that the economy is about to implode. However, if that person hears those same facts from their church pastor and everyone in the audience is shaking their head “yes”, it can spark a psychological change in their attitude.
Sometimes the message does not need to change, just the person delivering it. If you can get friends, family members, or a pastor on board, they may be able to deliver the message more successfully than you.
Sometimes the message has to change. For example, you may need to move away from a news cycle / fact based argument to one of prepping out of love/safety.
And sometimes, the message isn’t heard unless there is a scare (e.g – flood, earthquake, etc.) which shakes the mind up a little bit.
Everyone is different with how they “come to” believing such a grand deception. Make no mistake, it is indeed like the matrix. It repulses the mind to think about how America’s economic system as a whole is designed to enslave people and ultimately fail. If you are not making any headway with your spouse on prepping, take one of the above choices. The psychology example at the end is perhaps the toughest as everyone’s psyche is different. Everyone has a trigger that can make them believe preparedness is necessary. You just need to find it.
