HOW TO SURVIVE YOUR FIRST NUCLEAR WAR

by Mike Bogue

You’re at work and a bright light from a faraway nuclear explosion flashes through your office. What now?

That depends in large part upon your preparations before, during, and after the event—in other words, your objective planning. The internet overflows with such information.

But nuke sites rarely broach another kind of important preparation—subjective planning. Such personal prep work is just as important as external prep like stockpiling food and water.

Here are three ways to personally prepare yourself for a nuclear attack:

1. Morally.

How far will your morality and ethics stretch following a nuclear attack?

This may depend on whether you have family, or whether you are single and isolated. In either case, here are two issues that must be addressed prior to an attack:

• Sharing.

Even if you have stockpiled provisions, following a nuclear war, resources will grow scarce. How much are you willing to share with neighbors or strangers who ask for food, water, or medical supplies?

Are you willing to share until your resources dwindle to only enough to support you and your family?

Are you willing to share none at all?

Are you willing to share until the supplies run out, even if this puts your family at risk?

• Defending.

Will you choose to defend yourself and your family from hoodlums out to steal your resources or harm your family?

If so, are you willing to kill one or more of them?

Or would you let them take supplies as long as they didn’t harm your family?

Remember, in the aftermath of a nuclear war, police may not be available.

2. Emotionally.

A nuclear attack and its aftermath could emotionally traumatize survivors, including your family, and could strongly impact you as well.

Horror, despair, sadness, frustration, anger, and fear will, sadly, not be in short supply.

Consequently, it’s important to have an airtight support philosophy or faith to help you weather the difficult days and weeks following a nuclear war.

For many, a sturdy support source could be the Judeo-Christian Bible. Committing supportive verses to memory, such as Psalm 23, is recommended. For others, a different support source might be appropriate.

If the J-C Bible is your support source, it would be wise to include one in your survival supplies. Mark those passages that could help comfort your loved ones as well as passages that could motivate you to stay strong.

Also, after a nuclear attack, your smartphone may no longer work. So I encourage you to keep physical photos of your loved ones—relatives, friends, co-workers, others—on your person.

3. Physically.

It may seem odd to list this one last, but it may be the most difficult to achieve if you assume nuclear war resides sometime in the future, if at all.

Following a nuclear attack, you need to be your fittest due to the physical challenges nuclear aftermath will entail.

This means, if you are overweight like me, now is the time to lose weight, eat healthy, and exercise regularly.

It also means making sure you have an extra pair of eye glasses in a safe place, along with a good first-aid kit.

Facing the possibility of atomic attack is unpleasant, and even though I am writing a book about this subject for McFarland Publishing, I generally hold the issue at arm’s length.

Problem is, if nuclear war ever does happen, it will hold none of us at arm’s length.