UPDATE (March 2020) the Covid 19 Pandemic caught us all flat-footed, exposing how little individual and institutional preparedness actually existed.
UPDATE (January 2021) FEMA creates a National Risk Index, finally quantifying the obvious: nearly every county carries some form of existential exposure.
How Plagues Have Changed History[1]
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Many years ago after reviewing Buckminster Fuller‘s [2] Dymaxion map on average global temperatures, I thought it would be interesting to do a composite overlay of all threats (weather, nuclear, tornado, earthquake, etc) and then buy those areas shown to be the safest to resell to the prepper community.
I never had the discipline. Fortunately the Skousens did and they are now on the 3rd edition of Strategic Relocation which does a good job of overlaying the threats of natural disaster and then goes further to add political evaluations for North America.[3]
Living in the Pacific Northwest, the “prepping” mentality is practical because of the omnipresent threat of the Cascadia Fault [4] and is a reason I am wary when visiting the coast.
Preparing for these Black Swan [5] events should be a given. But I know few of my neighbors have taken any action. People generally avoid those bleak scenarios as being too improbable or too negative to consider – like pondering your inevitable death and planning for it (death clock anyone?).
I love where I live. But I know the risks and have taken steps to mitigate them.
Nevertheless, there are additional global issues that deserve sober reflection because the effects are now inevitable and not well addressed in Strategic Relocation (at least the 3rd edition). Specifically, global warming and the rise of the ocean levels. Data is well researched and there are numerous sources, but I recommend John Englander for his clear presentation and realistic approach.
His presentation at the Royal Institute is >here<
You can download his slides from his website >here<
Other organizations tracking this issue include Carbon Brief
John Englander’s work reminds me of Buckminster Fuller – he has an engineer’s optimism that even difficult problems have solutions.
The impacts of the inevitable rise in temperatures will vary greatly depending upon your current location, but no one is immune. Adaptation is now the baseline, not the option.
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[1] Disease is not addressed in Strategic Relocation. The climate impacts of disease is a topic for research. Musings on corona-virus are ongoing, and as one concrete example, there is some early evidence that Candidta orus fungus is becoming more infectious because it can live at greater temperatures as a result of global warming. Humans, historically, have been largely safe from fungal infections because body temperature is higher than many fungus can survive.
[2] Buckminster Fuller. References to “Bucky” are scattered throughout these posts. I cannot emphasize loudly enough that his work remains seminal. The Buckminster Institute continues his vision of engineering optimism, but his original work is a must read >Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth<
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[3] Strategic relocation as a strategy is challenging. Although I keep my gear fairly well organized and have thought through my EDC, the idea of getting my family organized in a tight timeline to go to a new location is daunting. >Discussion<
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[4] Oregon focused information on the Cascadia Fault >Cascadia Fault Overview< >Portland Emergency Management< >Oregon State< >here<
Surging Sea interactive map – albeit the scale of the ocean level rise does not go high enough.
A predictive map on how climate change will impact your City.
Skeptical Science is a great site and I fear the general conclusions of the inevitable Medea Hypothesis by Paleontologist Peter Ward.
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[5] Other Black Swan events to consider: the possibility of nuclear war was averted once because of the actions one man. And now, I am deeply saddened that in 2019 we have an advancing of the Doomsday clock. Real estate is a slow sector to adapt so it should be concerning when the New York Times reports on selling fall out bunkers to the uber rich (and the earlier report in the New Yorker). Foreign Affairs outlines how a nuclear war with Russia will start and Russia is testing a nuclear powered cruise missile. And research always has its risks. Our technological advancements continue to outstrip our growth in wisdom.
How about economic collapse? Venezuela shows the chaos that ensues. Not possible? Get those corrective glasses for your anal glaucoma and look at what the central banks are doing – buying up gold. Or could it be that Murray Rothbard is finally being taken seriously ->Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar_2? I doubt it. Ron Paul (and here) was the last politician who read Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard and understood how money should work. Of course he was considered a crank and I fear will soon be forgotten.
Probably more likely than an economic collapse is the predicted demographic threat to the future of capitalism.
A sobering reminder of the amount of nuclear explosions that we have intentionally detonated:
Protective Arts 
3 thoughts on “Strategic Relocation”