"The Grid". What is it and why should I care?

"The grid" is a nickname frequently used in the survivalist realm that typically refers to the infrastructure most of us utilize and depend on every day. "The grid" includes utilities like electricity, gas, and water, modern transportation, supply lines (fuel, food, or any other kind of supplies), and communications (phone, satellite, internet, etc.). These are the main components of "the grid", but one could argue that there are other components that are not mentioned here.

Most of these "grid" components are very intertwined, making "the grid" far more fragile than most of us realize. For example, the power grid going down would have significant impact on supply lines (no way to refrigerate perishables, for example) and communications (no way to use your computer, TV, or phone). For this reason, it is extremely important to prepare for any breakdown in infrastructure, whatever the cause may be.

Many survival experts tend to use this term "the grid" disparagingly, almost characterizing our modern infrastructure as if it were evil or menacing... and a few even go a step further by actually condescending anyone who would be so "naive" as to actually enjoy indoor plumbing, air conditioning, cell phones or cable TV. All due respect to those experts... that is a positively absurd perspective.

These "purist" ideology driven experts are absolutely correct for recommending that we all diligently plan and prepare for the possibility of losing these conveniences (either for the short term or the long), but going as far as to criticize anyone for "depending" on infrastructure is a bit overly idealogical.

As with almost everything in life, balance is key. You should be able to live your life free of any guilt for enjoying the many modern conveniences and technological advances that most of us enjoy today. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing this. But simply going on enjoying these conveniences without giving any thought to what would happen if/when they disappear would be unfortunate. Perhaps even naive.

It is easy to allow oneself to be lulled into a false sense of security.... A responsible and vigilant person will go on enjoying these conveniences, but they will also realize that in the blink of an eye any of these conveniences can vanish, making life much more challenging, inconvenient, uncomfortable, and even dangerous. These individuals make informed preparations for such an event so they can keep their family safe, comfortable, and... at the very minimum, alive.

The key to this balance is to go on fully enjoying "the grid", but thoroughly prepare yourself for the very realistic possibility that at some point in your life (possibly much sooner than you would expect), you will be forced to live without it.

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