by Bryce Eddy

I’ve been writing articles on self-defense and the threats we are currently facing, not to frighten anyone, but hopefully, to inspire action and impress upon you the core philosophies and skills we must return to.  In one of my first columns, I wrote on the continuum of self-defense but wish I had included the important foundation of Self-Reliance.

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1841 Essay “Self-reliance”, he described it as individualism and one’s need to avoid conformity by following his own ideas and instincts. He stated that “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines”.  If we are weak and dependent, without any original thoughts or robust skills, it is easy to become a victim or fall into despair. I also think the concept doesn’t exclude, the self-reliance we find through families, tight communities and religion or spirituality.  To be self-reliant, is to be capable, not to be alone.

How did we get here? First, we outsourced our morality…

Morality must be supreme because you cannot possibly create enough laws to cover every scenario in the world. Moral law gives birth to civil law but what we’ve done, I believe has made us less safe. We’ve given our morality over to legality. You’ve undoubtably heard the phrase “we are a nation of laws” but that concept has actually sowed the seeds of our lack of self-reliance.

My argument is that as we have become a society where politicians attempt to legislate everything, the question has moved from, is this the right thing to do, to “is it legal” or even worse, “can we argue this and win court?”.  Ethical considerations have given way to legal arguments. Which is why we have so many laws that even google can’t even give us a number and on top of that we have millions of unknowable regulations and 1.3 million lawyers running around looking for work.  The more laws, the less morality.

Then we have outsourced our thinking…

In our digital age filled with screens and corporate media manipulation, we are drowning in content and  what to think, and no longer scrutinize much of what we consume. We no longer read books or write down our ideas. Everything is a text, a meme, or a 15 second video.

We have outsourced our labor…

We have failed to teach our kids skills and now with the recent state of our universities you can literally accumulate mountains of debt and come away with zero skills and zero job prospects.  We have more knowledge workers than ever before and not many can change a tire, find their place on a map, start a fire, or cook a meal.  Forget the fact that we are lacking tradesmen and we have a shortage of skills that actually keep our communities functioning. We have outsourced even basic skills to others and have low expectations of our young men and women.

Finally, we have outsourced our self-defense and as a result our self-reliance…

In days past, we had to fend for ourselves. The strongest, naturally banded together to protect the weak and to keep the wolves at bay. Our communities needed to be tight for survival.  We had volunteers for emergencies because there was no formal emergency services to rely on.

All this changed but we are seeing it’s disintegration. So, what now?  Ronald Regan once said that freedom is only one generation away from extinction.  The greatest generation may have won WW2 but they forgot to pass on most of their morals and many of their skills while they worked hard to give their kids all the material things they thought they missed out on.  As destructive as that turned out to be, I have hope and believe that we are also one generation away from a the possibility of a massive awakening and a renewal of our republic.

It starts with you. Get away from your screen and learn some basic skills.  Read classic books.  Engage your mind.  Cook a meal or three a week.  Take a class and work with your hands. Learn some emergency skills. Get familiar with life-saving medicine.  Be prepared with first-aid kits and a “Go-Bag”.  Make sure you have flashlights in your home, survival foods and water.  Think long term and learn how to grow food. Become the capable person that your neighbors will look to when an emergency occurs. Come up with a family emergency plan. It won’t happen overnight, but you will grow. Then, teach your children. Make equipping them for life a parental mission.  Be part of this great awakening. Do it for yourself, your community and your family.

And remember that confidence comes from being prepared!