Although they might not be able to put a finger on exactly why, many Americans share a feeling that something that requires their attention could soon happen or is already in the process of happening.
Something not-so-good.
For that very reason, many people are making preparations to be ready. But many face the dilemma that when details of an approaching circumstance aren’t known, it’s not easy to prepare for it.
Wright County resident Craig Wiles is owner of Preferred Energy, a company that outfits homes and businesses with solar power systems. He is also an authority on preparedness, and annually conducts seminars to offer interested people advice the subject.
This year, Wiles will be doing a series in Houston that begins today (Thursday) and will continue at 6:30 p.m. each Thursday through Aug. 8 at the Seventh Day Adventist Church (with the exception of July 4).
“The goal is a more prepared community,” Wiles said. “The Rambo idea of survivalists is stupid, and it doesn’t work. It’s divide and conquer. It’s only by sticking together that we’ll get through tough times. You have to be part of a community, and the healthier that community is, the more resilient everybody will be.”
During the seven-week series, Wiles will cover several aspects of preparedness, with topics including threat assessment (“what’s coming?”), physical preparedness (“what I can do”), social preparedness (“working with others”), financial preparedness (“economics moving forward”), personal preparedness (“it all starts with you”), who is behind all this (“conspiracies explored – the big picture”), and the possibility of ongoing weekly group meetings.
Wiles said he likes people to make two lists, one including things they would do if they thought the next 10 years would be plentiful and prosperous, the other with expectations of the opposite.
“As you compare the two lists, you’ll find that there are things that show up on both lists,” Wiles said. “For instance, a debt free home. I don’t care if times are good or bad, you’re going to want your own home and have it paid for. Maybe a greenhouse. If times are good, you might raise orchids. If times are bad, you’re going to raise food. Or a solar power system – if times are good, you’re going to look green and like you’re eco-friendly. If times are bad, you’re still going to have electricity.
“Here’s the deal: If you work toward anything that shows up on both lists, you don’t have to worry if times are getting better or worse. You can’t lose.”
Wiles said people in other communities where he has hosted seminars do in fact continue to meet, including Ava.
“There’s a lot of fear out there,” he said. “People don’t know what’s coming, but they have this impending sense of doom that something is coming. Unfortunately, because of that they’re paralyzed, and they don’t anything, when in fact there are a lot of things they could be doing.”
Wiles said he’s glad to enlighten people about what they could be doing, and sees results.
“On opening night of these series, you can almost literally see fear in peoples’ eyes,” he said. “At the end of about six nights, you see real relief and that they know ‘there’s something I can do about this.’
“What we need to realize is 100 years ago, 1,000 years ago, or 10,000 years ago, people still had food, water and shelter. If we just have the skills, we’ll do fine. We tend to think ‘I can’t live without my I-Phone’ or things like that, and that’s not true.
“We’ve lost a lot of those skills and a lot of that knowledge, but it’s still there and we can get it back. And it’s not difficult.”
There is no charge to attend the Wiles’ preparedness training sessions, but donations will be accepted to cover the cost of handout materials that will be provided. No registration is required, but Wiles requests that people call ahead with the number of people who will attend, so that enough handouts will be available.
Craig Wiles can be reached by phone at 417-818-6057, and his email address is solardoggy@yahoo.com. Preferred Energy’s web address is www.preferredenergy.com.
The Rambo idea of survivalists is stupid, and it doesn’t work. It’s divide and conquer. It’s only by sticking together that we’ll get through tough times. You have to be part of a community, and the healthier that community is, the more resilient everybody will be.”