Prepared: A Manual for Surviving Worst-Case Scenarios

“The principles of modern preparedness are divided roughly into two parts: the mental versus the physical, the internal versus the external, the tangible versus the intangible.”

This quote describes the dual nature of survival principles according to Glover. The mental skills involved in survival are just as important as the practical ones. Having a mindset that aids an individual in crisis is equally as vital as possessing effective survival tools and planning properly.

“In catastrophe, you can derive the same kinds of benefits from sufficient preparedness that we get from them in combat. When you remove the tactical military layer from preparedness and strip it down to its foundational elements, it becomes clear as day that an integrated sense of preparedness can help any person out there prevent, survive, and overcome any kind of disaster they might face.”

The mental principles that allow civilians to survive in disaster scenarios are drawn from the principles and skills taught in the military. The book suggests that developing these skills is just as helpful in everyday living as it is in the military. This highlights the heightened sense of everyday jeopardy that Glover presents to the reader and the heroization of military culture as an intrinsic part of survivalism. Glover’s military background is useful here, as it gives him personal authority within the survivalist movement.

“Catastrophe is an equal opportunist. It doesn’t care about your personal wealth or social status, your religious convictions, or how nice of a person you are.”

This quote emphasizes the random nature of crisis and disaster scenarios. Anyone, regardless of their skillset, preparation, wealth, status, or community life, can fall prey to unexpected disaster. People prepared for crisis and aware of the possibility are better suited for survival than anyone else, regardless of their other skills or traits. This passage also highlights how Glover encourages the reader to relate with low-occurrence incidents and consider the risk to themselves as potentially high.