When disaster strikes it seems simple enough to wait for FEMA to show up and ‘save’ the day. Assuming the government or insurance will swoop in and replace what you lost.
The reality? Waiting on either is probably the worst option.
When a massive windstorm swept through our area, a tree came down on our primary vehicle from front to back, crushing it. Insurance took almost 5 weeks to pay out. If I was waiting for the handout, our family of seven would have been out of luck for over a month.
Contrast that bottleneck to building a small community.
When disaster happens, your small community can rally help in minutes. I have heard of stories where the family experiences a house fire and before the fire is even out, they have a place to stay, and donated clothes waiting.
Building a strong small community is a great way to eliminate government handouts, even when disaster doesn’t happen. A small community can pull together a supply of wood for heat in the winter, or secure food for a family whose father is out of work.
When we rely on each other, we reduce our dependence on larger systems.
Even with the best of intentions, large government will never be the saving solution for everyone. And if we force it to be, that’s the very same slippery slope to communism. We don’t need the government ‘taking’ our hard earned efforts and passing it to someone else.
What we need is small communities pulling together to help each other. My garden excess helps to feed other families, and their teenagers could watch our livestock while we travel. Mutual work together. Shared weight, stronger community.
I wrote a guide this week looking at this very topic, but from the flip side of the coin: the dangerous trap of trying to go entirely solo. Read the full guide: Self-Sufficiency Myths: Why Real Resilience Takes a Village.
We don’t need large governments to step in and save us. Nor should we go about trying to do everything alone. Both paths lead to failure.
The answer lies next door and a few miles down the road. So, what’s stopping you from building a community?