Summary
Basic life skills are disappearing—and it’s no accident. From cooking to critical thinking, younger generations are being raised to depend on systems, not themselves. This blog reveals why, and how to reclaim your independence.
Why Are Basic Life Skills Disappearing?
Do you know how to build a fire, read a map, or mend clothes?
If so, you are one of the few.
From millennials on down, generations of young people have not been taught life skills.
A new research survey based in Australia found that nearly 50 percent of Gen Z feel unprepared to manage basic household chores.
Here are even more alarming findings from other surveys:
A different study, which surveyed more than 1,500 participants from different age groups on their cooking proficiency, found that 42% of those aged 18 to 28 couldn't make a basic stir-fry, while 27% struggled with a basic soup.
The issue is so prevalent that members of Gen Z are enrolling in “adulting” classes to learn basic skills.
New York Post reports, “Gen Z is flocking to ‘Adulting 101’ crash courses, desperate to learn what previous generations might call common sense: how to do laundry, budgeting for rent, or navigating a grocery store without Googling ‘what is a turnip?’”
But are Adulting 101 classes the answer?
In our opinion…not even close!
As Christian Hodges tells Fox News, “A higher percentage of Gen Zers have gone to college than any other generation in the past. Universities used to be a place where you could send your child off to become independent. Now colleges have taught young people to be dependent on the government, to be dependent on the university itself and also dependent on their parents to make ends meet. [College is] not a place to get to learn basic life skills.”
If adults don’t know basic life skills, how will they survive an extreme situation?
If they don’t know how to cook a meal, how will they build a fire, hunt, and cook a meal when they are stranded?
The short answer is, they won’t.
They will not be able to survive.
Why the System Is Designed to Keep Us Dependent
Concerned Citizen put together a video that sums up the reason why our children aren’t being taught basic life skills in school.
Here’s what it claims:
“There’s a reason they don’t teach basic life skills in school. Because life skills make you independent, and independent people can’t be controlled. There’s a reason we’ve been herded into cities and disconnected from the land. Because access to land makes you independent, and independent people can’t be controlled. There’s a reason the mainstream media keeps you distracted and misinformed. Because knowing the truth makes you independent, and independent people can’t be controlled. The entire system is designed to keep you dependent.”
Without basic skills, people must rely on the government.
And, as we’ve seen time and time again, the government can’t be trusted to take care of us—especially during an emergency.
We’re Being Herded into Cities
According to US History, “In 1900, an American was twenty times more likely to move from the farm to the city than vice-versa. The 1920 census declared that for the first time, a majority of Americans lived in the city.”
The trend continues today.
But while urban areas are sold as places with more opportunities, they actually offer less freedom.
Consider this about early urban centers of America: “Beneath the magnificent skylines lay slums of abject poverty. Immigrant neighborhoods struggled to realize the American dream. Overcrowding, disease, and crime plagued many urban communities. Pollution and sewage plagued the new metropolitan centers. Corruption in local leadership often blocked needed improvements.”
The same can be said today.
We’re Disconnected from the Land
As more Americans are herded into cities, fewer farmers exist.
The American Farm Bureau Federation reported recently that over 140,000 farms were lost in the past 5 years.
This is alarming.
American independence begins and ends with the ability to grow our own food.
With farms shutting down, that makes our country more dependent on imported food.
Beyond the large-scale issue, we are seeing the results in individual American families.
As discussed earlier, many Americans don’t know how to cook.
It’s a trickle-down effect.
In Bring Back Home Economics Education, Alice H. Lichtenstein and David S. Ludwig write, “Even more than before, parents and caregivers today cannot be expected or relied on to teach children how to prepare healthy meals. Many parents never learned to cook and instead rely on restaurants, take-out food, frozen meals, and packaged food as basic fare. Many children seldom experience what a true home-cooked meal tastes like, much less see what goes into preparing it. […] The family dinner has become the exception rather than the rule. […] Girls and boys should be taught the basic principles they will need to feed themselves and their families within the current food environment: a version of hunting and gathering for the 21st century.”
If they don’t know how to cook, we can assume that they also don’t know how to grow their own food.
As Americans move to the city, they become disconnected from the land.
They stop gardening and start using Grubhub for food delivery.
We’re Distracted and Misinformed by the Media
One can argue that big-tech companies, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, have too much power.
One of the main ways they use that power is to censor any views that run contrary to the opinions of their leaders.
Our government knows this is the case, so they work with Big Tech to control the spread of information they don’t like.
Americans are seeing more of this type of information suppression and control than ever before.
The problem is that we need to stay aware to prepare.
But how do you stay aware and prepare when the information you need is kept from you?
Seek out information from sources you trust.
What Can You Do Now to Become More Independent?
Independent people cannot be controlled.
Do all you can to be independent.
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Grow your own food. Invest in quality seeds and tools you need for growing your own food. Consider hobby farming.
- Invest in solar power Make yourself less reliant on the power grid.
- Learn basic skills and survival skills. Take time to learn skills you may have missed, such as how to sew or forage for food. Enroll in a first aid class and a survival training course.
- Find other ways to communicate. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that what we say is monitored. Avoid censorship by learning how to communicate using Morse Code. [See Also: Why Morse Code Is Still Important Today]
- Build a bartering network. Find a group of like-minded individuals that you can turn to when needed.
- Do It Yourself. Any time you have the option to pay someone to do something, learn how to do it yourself. Be your own handyman.
- Read, read, and read some more. Knowledge is power.
Don’t be dependent, friends.
In liberty,
Elizabeth Anderson
Preparedness Advisor, My Patriot Supply
