Introuction to HOW TO SURVIVE ANYWHERE

 

Survival. What is survival? In the narrowest sense, it is simply the ability to resist all the forces of nature that seem to conspire to end or shorten our life. In one sense, survival is a relative concept, since the very nature of life on earth means that everything dies.

Survival means different things to different people. To a wilderness explorer, it means having the skills to stay alive for a night—or much longer—using only what nature has provided. To an urban dweller, it means having the wit and wisdom to protect yourself and your family from all the predators that seek to end or shorten your life. These can be of the human sort (terrorists, burglars, hijackers, scam artists, rapists) or they can be of the natural sort (earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, drought).

We will address the basic skills needed to keep you alive and healthy in the woods and in the city. We will address these skills so you can be prepared, so you can act appropriately after a disaster strikes, and so that you can hopefully avoid a life-threatening survival situation in the first place.

In this book, we are not particularly interested in the very specific details of how to deal with a certain type of disaster. That has already been addressed in worst-case scenario type books, such as, what to do if a bear is chasing you, or what to do if you fall out of an airplane.

We will focus upon the basics in the primary areas of concern: fire, water, food, shelter, clothing, tools and weapons, and more. In most cases, the skills and methods we describe can be practiced in either the city or the woods. Keep in mind that in severe urban disasters—such as Hurricane Katrina that wiped parts of cities right off the landscape—“urban survival” and “wilderness survival” became one and the same.

Additionally, we will go a bit further in this book. We will—in the last chapter—attempt to identify those behaviors and choices that inevitably lead us into life-threatening survival situations. We will provide real solutions that you can apply in your own life, in the wilderness or a rural setting, or in the city.

“Survival” is at least two things. First, it refers to those basic skills— purifying water, making fire, identifying plants—that can be applied by anyone, anywhere, under most circumstances. Those are the basics of individual security and survival. Second, survival also refers to the identification of those practices and principles that we can practice in our daily lives to enhance our survival and lead to full and productive lives. By necessity, this second aspect of survival leads us into the realms of economics, sociology, human relations, politics, and, yes, philosophy, religion, and  spirituality

Survival—in its fullest sense—is our most basic instinct. It is not merely a topic for a junior college adult education course. It is a way of life, a way of thinking, a way of living that enhances everything you do, and it prepares you for whatever the uncertainties of life may bring. True survival is not selfish, greedy, racist, or hateful. Following this “counterfeit survival” is ultimately counterproductive to our individual and group survival. Real survival is expansive, giving, inclusive, and loving. It is this latter real survival that I hope to pass along. Please join me in this adventure.

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