Sociopolitical Situational Awareness - Protecting your Family From the State and Society

By Timothy Gamble
  
Most folks in the prepper and survivalist community have heard of situational awareness (its much more than just paying attention), but what is Sociopolitical Situational Awareness?

Sociopolitical simply means a combination of social and political factors. Situational awareness means paying attention to what is going on around you, knowing what to look for, and how to assess (make decisions about) your surroundings. The end goal for situational awareness is correct action.

Sociopolitical situational awareness, therefore, seeks to understand the social and political factors surrounding you and your family, assessing those factors in such a way as to take correct actions to protect you and your family from those potential dangers.

In today's society, we have extreme political correctness, an over-heated political scene, easily-enraged social justice warriors, and activist bureaucrats seemingly unaccountable to anyone. A large percentage of the population has been subverted to the point of perceiving traditional folks - conservatives, constitutionalists, Christians, and, yes, even preppers - as the enemy. If your political or religious beliefs are outside of approved progressive leftist ideology, you are seen as an enemy to be stopped at all costs. 

Religious and political persecution is very real these days. People who stand up for traditional and conservative values are losing their social media accounts, losing jobs, losing friends, and losing their reputations. They are increasingly being reported for "hate" speech and being charged with "hate" crimes. They are being harassed and even physically attacked for their religious and political beliefs. 

What can we do about this situation? One thing is to face the current reality. Being pro-life, pro-gun, pro-free speech, pro-traditional marriage, pro-borders, pro-America, pro-God, pro-Bible, pro-religion, and/or pro-Trump can be very dangerous these days. We need to be aware that our religious and political beliefs can get us in trouble, even if those beliefs were consider normal commonsense just a couple of decades ago. Then, we can take prudent steps to protect ourselves and our families.

Apply situational awareness not only to your physical surroundings, but to the social and political environment in which you live. If you don't fully understand situational awareness, please start by reading my article Survivalist's Guide to Situational Awareness and the OODA Loop.  It is a lot more than just paying attention.

Figure out the political and social dangers you face. How progressive is your local mayor and city council? What about your local sheriff? Is your city a sanctuary city? How restrictive are state and local gun laws? How liberal is your local school board? What about your city manager (a non-partisan position in theory, but in reality they have a political ideology)? Same goes for your kid's school principal and teachers.  

What about in your neighborhood? Do you have a Home Owners Association? How much power do they wield? Any busybody neighbors spying on you?

What about where you work? Any SJWs among your co-workers? How liberal are your bosses? What are your company's polices regarding everything from sexual harassment, to workplace discussions on politics and religion. 

Be aware that Big Brother is watching you, and your family. Under Obamacare, the government began pressuring doctors to ask their patients about guns in their homes. Recently, this attempt to turn doctors into something akin to a secret surveillance force has increased, with medical professionals being encouraged to report parents who refuse suggested vaccines and procedures for their children. Patients are being encouraged to tell their doctors about any mental health concerns they may have about themselves and other members of their family and household (chilling considering the big push for red flag laws). 

Schools, too, are being used to collect data on the private lives of students and their families. In recent years, both individual teachers and entire school systems have been caught asking students about their parents' religious and political opinions and affiliations, who their parents vote for, whether or not there are guns in the home, and even whether or not their parents are obeying local recycling regulations!

These are just some of the things you need to think about as you practice ssociopolitical situational awareness. Discuss with your spouse and children the importance of privacy. Explain that certain things are "family business" and not to be shared with outsiders. Discuss what and how much can be shared with non-family members, such as bosses, co-workers, doctors, and teachers. Discuss what should and should not be shared on social media. 

If you realize you are working for a very liberal, politically-correct company, you might want to consider working elsewhere. If you find yourself living in a highly liberal city or state, you may want to consider moving. If your kids' teacher is a SJW, get them out of there as soon as possible (move, homeschool,or private school). 

The Bottom Line: The political and social environment in which you live can be just as potentially dangerous as the physical environment in which you live. Threats to your safety come not only from thugs, muggers, and other bad guys, but from a large segment of "regular folks," including doctors, teachers, co-workers, and neighbors who have been brain-washed into considering traditional values, beliefs, and lifestyles as wrong. Apply situational awareness to the sociopolitical environment to realize and avoid these dangers.    
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