Wednesday Mom and I had a conversation of a religious nature that pertains to the subject of survival.

If I have to consume a ham sandwich, because it is the only there is to eat, I will. I'll be ritually unclean until sundown. A similar situation happened in December. There is something specific I will not do to survive. Out of respect to the rules, I will not mention what that is.

How far will you go to survive? Is there something that you will not do?

Be mindful of the rules. Depending on what your answer might be, it might be best to ponder the question and not post it on the forum.

Jeanette Isabelle

Far enough....How far will that be? Won't know until I get there..

in combat, people routinely kill others in order to survive. That's rather drastic. There are notorious cases of cannibalism rationalized by the need to survive. That seemingly makes ham sandwiches rather trivial. Along those lines I would probably wolf down cat or dog food(just finished feeding our kitties their breakfast), maybe even okra....Who knows>>

Ham is not my choice meat, either. Much prefer chicken or turkey.

Most of my brushes with survival situations have been contending with natural elements, either numbing cold or thirst, while nosing around in the desert Southwest.

Off the top of your head, is there anything specific that you will not do?

Again, depending on what your answer might be, it might be best to ponder the question and not post it on the forum.

Jeanette Isabelle

I think it's pretty hard to know for sure til you're in a survival situation. Sometimes the folks that seem weak (eg very small children, frail elderly people with serious medical conditions, etc) will survive things that are really horrible while young and fit people perish. Likewise there are cases where very small and weak individuals have performed stunning feats of strength while under stress. Some of the guys that talk big on gun forums about how they "dial 1911, not 911" freeze up when confronted and ten year olds savagely drive off kidnappers.

There are lines I have no intention of every crossing but who knows what I might be capable of if my back is against the wall.

In a push comes to shove situation, I will be praying for strength to do the right thing.

Jeanette Isabelle

I would not kill another person to take their supplies. However, I would kill a person trying to take my supplies (if the survival situation was dire and life threatening). I'm not saying that if someone asked for some supplies I would be unwilling to share. What I'm saying is if someone tried to take those supplies against my stated wishes and to my severe detriment, then they would be putting themselves at significant risk.

Dave Grossman authored a book on a related topic. He states that in wars before Vietnam a substantial portion of the soldiers intentionally did not shoot at the enemy. So chances are that even if they do not freeze up they would not shoot at a person.
It´s not a particularly pleasant experience to find out that you would be capable of enough violence to severly injure an other human being.

Consider that your goal isn’t to kill or maim a bad guy. The goal is simply to stop a bad actor from doing harm to you, your loved ones or others for whom you are responsible. Good people can do bad things when they are desperate. As a good guy, you should also have a trauma kit readily available.

Gosh - this is in the frame of "I just don't know!"

With that, I will defend myself and mine with all the entails - but for me, it will have to be situational and I just can't predict the variables that will come into play.

You can read all the fiction on "what if" and some of it is really good as well as thought provoking - You can (and should) read the non-fiction on how the civilians responded to D-day in France, how others survived and responded to actual events such as Kosovo. This can be a guide but "you will be you" and will have to deal with what comes up. The best advice is to mentally game it out and try to establish a flexible 'response plan' and then modify on the fly.

Hopefully I will never have to decide on something that critical and can co-exist/respond with my neighbors and colleagues in a proper and beneficial fashion. However, me and mine do come first.

Paul -

On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society: Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
Excellent book, thanks for the reminder.