The Patriot Post® · Seeking Shelter

Seeking shelter in a storm is a natural human reaction. Normalcy bias is the equivalent of mental-emotional shutdown in the face of impending disaster. Is there a difference?

Recently, I was web surfing and the term, “normalcy bias,” jumped off the page at me. I have been searching for answers. How are people finding shelter? Why do some people seem oblivious to the extreme perils America is facing?

Google search found numerous items focused on normalcy bias and many examples. Invariably, the blogs were talking about evidence of the condition in the American people. They referenced how that condition was preventing an appropriate response by many Americans to an impending disaster. The impending disaster referenced is the collapse of the U.S. economy, our currency and our social order.

Bingo! Others had experienced my same concerns and reached some cause and effect conclusions. In short, they concluded that Americans were somewhat aware of the peril we face. They suggested that normalcy bias was preventing Americans from responding appropriately to the abnormal situation.

Frankly, some of that sounds like psycho mumbo-jumbo. Also, I do not believe that it is common denial. I do not spend my time in an academic bubble. I get plenty of face-time with real people I know, people I like and trust. I do not see denial in these people.

Still, there is one thing I cannot deny. Oftentimes, eyes glaze over when I talk about the very real possibility of the collapse of the U.S. Dollar. It could cause a total failure of our social order. There would likely be hunger, violence, and chaos.

Though true, the reporting of such gloom and doom simply loses my audience.

Still grasping for understanding, I decided to trick my mind. A big change in perspective usually works for me.

For a time, the idea of seeking shelter became my new perspective. I would be looking at the issue from a different angle.

A while back, I decided to stop berating some of my fellow Christians for their lack of engagement in the issues of the day: the floundering economy, the looming collapse of our currency, and the growth of cancerous secularism. Perhaps they were intentionally uninformed. Perhaps they were seeking shelter in an “ignorance is bliss” posture. Seeking shelter is something I can understand.

Still, some people just seem to be ignorant of the worst dangers. And especially the potential for a currency collapse. Some do not understand the term, world reserve currency. Some folks believe that our government can continue forever to print money and apply some of it to our nation’s debts. Moreover, they believe the new, printed money is free.

The truth is that each dollar printed is another dollar of taxpayer debt. The truth is that America can only engage in this practice because the U.S. Dollar is the world reserve currency. The truth is that printing gross amounts of new money is the sure path to extraordinary inflation, another form of taxation. It eventually leads to the collapse of our currency.

The truth is that China and other nations have already been meeting to consider shunning the U.S. Dollar and creating a new world reserve currency.

It is hard to reason with this kind of ignorance. Given these “truths”, it will shout something like, “right-wing conspiracy!”

Aside from the ignorant, we have the uninformed. In addition, some may be misinformed. There are those truly caught in a haze of mental-emotional shutdown. And there are those seeking shelter from the coming storms. Are these all really the same thing?

Certainly, I cannot answer that question. However, if I simplify it to seeking shelter, I can offer more commentary. Perhaps my ideas will resonate with someone. Perhaps, as my friend Murray Bass says, I may affect “that one life” for the good.

In my observations, I have seen that people are seeking shelter in many different ways. Some of those ways may reveal something about who they are. Some ways may reveal how emotionally overwhelmed they are by the dangers we face. Some ways may reveal that they are truly wise, seeking to balance their legitimate fears with comforting activities or diversions.

The greater the danger, the more real and immediate the crisis, the more natural it is for natural man to seek shelter, to seek safety.

There it is! There is the perspective needed for conclusion. Seeking shelter is a form of seeking safety. Seeking shelter implies hunkering down. However, seeking safety offers alternatives. It may be the answer to the question, “What shall we do?”

Picture a squad of Navy Seals surrounded and outnumbered 20 to 1. Rescue will not arrive in time. When their ammo is expended, they will be overrun and tortured before they are killed. The Seals do not hunker down. Instead, the Seals quickly determine the weakest point of the surrounding enemy force. They bring their M60 and other maximum firepower to bear on that point. They then attack with speed, courage and determination. There may be losses and sacrifices, but a bold counter-attack is their only hope of breaking through to escape and safety.

Our best hope is to prevent the collapse of our currency, the failure of our economy, the breakdown of social order and the surrender to socialism. Those are unacceptable. They spell the death of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for our children and grandchildren. We must counter-attack to find safety.

It is not rocket science. Nothing prevents a new embrace of safety and liberty except inaction, selfishness, pride and political bias. It is not normalcy bias or other mumbo jumbo.

To insure the courage of hope, we must prayerfully seek the help of the Lord. Let us bring His maximum firepower to bear. America needs a spiritual revival. We must cast away secularism, atheism, and the evangelists for socialism. Only God can help us break free and find safety. He will, if we earnestly embrace Him.

At the same time, we must install patriots in government, not enemy agents. Let the people unite and demand impeachment of politicians who violate our laws without remorse.

In 2014, let us begin to elect a new brand of Congressmen and women. We should fill Congress with those who speak the truth. They must cut spending and make policies that expand the economy. A new system of taxation is needed that will raise revenue without killing the economy. We must begin to pay down the exploding debt with real dollars before it implodes our social order. And please, in 2016, let us elect a President and Commander in Chief who will defend America, not destroy us.

It is normal for people to be in tune with God and receive His blessings. The present-day tendency to ignore God is abnormal. How can we overcome these fearful dangers without the help of the Mighty Hand of God? Why would we even want to try?

Let us surrender to the truth and make some changes. This time, let us make changes, even sacrifices, for the good of all.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –Declaration of Independence