A number of incidents over the last days and years reinforce my sense that our society is excessively centralized, and as a consequence excessively vulnerable to points of failure. At some point soon, I expect the preference for efficiency will be changed to a preference for resilience.

There is no question that centralized facilities (cities, transit systems, factories, pipelines, communication hubs…) generally result in more efficiency. But natural and unnatural disasters make the disadvantages obvious too. Nearly all our infrastructure depends on peaceful normalcy to operate, and would break thunderously if a major catastrophe occurred.

For example, do you have a family plan for coordinated escape? Stored supplies? Mobility? Energy generation capability? Information access? First-aid knowledge? Self-defense skills and equipment? Any barterable physical assets? Most city-dwellers would say “no” to almost all of these, and hope that someone comes to their aid when the shit hits the fan. Well, that’s not good enough for me any more. Like an adolescent slowly realizing that they are not invincible after all, we have to take emergency planning for ourselves seriously.

The spectacle of New Orleans’ degeneration into anarchy gives people ample reminder about why self-sufficiency is so important. The Government (capitalised in irony – since many people don’t understand civic structures) is not an omnipotent guardian angel. You may only have yourself, your family, and your friends to count on. Everything else – strangers, The Government, and luck, is an unreliable bonus.

Decentralization at the public policy level would help. Let’s spread out populations, infrastructure choke points, “lines of communication” in the military sense, leadership, supplies, over the large unused area that is available in America. Yes, this could increase transportation costs if the spread-out communities are still very closely coupled – if people from different areas must frequently meet. Effort should be expended on decreasing that coupling. Unfortunately, politicians abhor devolution of the power concentration they built over decades, so this will be a hard task for tough people.

But I can’t wait for society to decentralize – soon or well enough to count on in dire times. I plan to start making changes in my life. I plan to contemplate emergency scenarios in real life, with the same seriousness I practice them in the airplane. I plan to leave the big city, and take up residence in a place where the mass of possible friends outweighs the mass of possible foes, where long-term self-sufficiency is materially possible.

Any suggestions?