The readings and videos reviewed this week have been thought provoking - to say the least. In the back of my mind I have silently worried about my family's vulnerability related to an accelerating dependence on the networked world for several years now and have been taking steps to protect us in the event that our digital umbilical cord is severed due to any number of catastrophic events. This week's work has served to exacerbate my anxieties related to personal security and privacy as we slide down this slippery slope of connectedness. That being said, the same technology that makes us so very vulnerable also continues to give us a competitive edge in an increasingly competitive and flatter world. So how do we maintain our economic value as employees by leveraging technology while reducing our vulnerability and risk at the same time? I suggest a "redundancy" lifestyle.
I disagree with Laurie Garrett's view that "individual preparedness" for pandemics, [terrorism, and/or insurrection and revolution] is "irrational." I'm sure there are many who would also consider those of us who seriously consider that these kinds of catastrophic events are probable as "irrational." But the global financial near-meltdown of 2008 clearly demonstrates that individual preparedness for these kinds of predictable catastrophic events is a wise course of action, whereas dependence on government preparedness is absolute folly given their historic track record of "responsible" stewardship.
So what does a "redundancy" lifestyle mean? It means that we should continue to be active members of the global digitally connected community. Understanding technology and learning how to effectively leverage technology makes us professionally and personally more efficient and productive. But we should also all learn how to become digitally invisible. Even though I am technology illiterate from an IT back-end perspective, I am now committed to learn as much as I can about software and hardware solutions that can keep me safe, and have just purchased "Counter Hack Reloaded" to begin this process. A redundant lifestyle means that we should continue to purchase food at our local grocery stores, but we should also consider learning how to garden so we can grow our own as well. It means we should learn to hunt and fish. It means we should consider stockpiling some nonperishable food for emergency. A redundant lifestyle means that (most of us) should stay on the electrical power grid, but we should also consider installing secondary sources for heat including gas auxiliary generators, solar panels and batteries, and/or wood/coal burning stoves. A redundant lifestyle means that we should continue to rely on community water sources, but should also consider digging an auxiliary well or purchasing an emergency water storage system. It means that we shouldn't abandon our banks, but we should spread a diversity of fiscal resources across several financial institutions. It means we should also have immediate access to emergency "hard" currency. A redundant lifestyle means that we should continue to trust our community hospitals and their dedicated clinical personnel, but we should also learn basic diagnostic and first aid skills and have an emergency stockpile of medications to minimize pain, reduce inflammation, and eradicate bacterial infections.
A redundant lifestyle means we should adopt both new and old world pioneer attitudes to survive the coming storm. Fortunately, we have unlimited access to information to learn these old world pioneering skills in our digitally interdependent connected world.
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Kevin, I enjoy your persepctive on redundancy. I feel as if we as humans need to be more prepared for the "what if" scenario. I think we have become soft as a culture in many ways. We wake up in the morning and brush our teeth expecting that when we turn the knob on the sink, water will come out and when we flip the switch, lights will illuminate. I often think about a day when the lights don't come on and the water is not there. Then what? They survived way back when... could we do it now? Could we survive without electricity?...plumbing?...the internet?
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