15 Hours Could Save Your Life -- and Your Country

[This could be the plot of an action-adventure movie with a happy ending. But the first part is true, and the second part can be made to happen.]

Gradually the citizens of the United States and Canada learned that they were extremely vulnerable: Their electric power grid was highly vulnerable to a long-term collapse, potentially from coast to coast.

Almost no mainstream media outlet covered the grid’s vulnerability. The consequences were too terrifying. No electricity would mean no factory production of food, fuel and medicine; no cell phone or internet communication; no heat or air conditioning for most people; and no contact with police, firefighters and paramedics.

When people learned that Congress had been aware of the problem since 2004 and had done nothing to protect the grid, nothing to force the utilities to shield the grid, and nothing to require Homeland Security to create a robust rescue and recover plan, many people became angry and felt betrayed. Others denied that the threat was real. Others became fatalistic. They decided it was a doomsday scenario. Others became terrified, and then quickly put it out of their heads. It was too stressful to think about. About one to two percent of the country decided to spend thousands of dollars to prepare.

Then in August 2014 an ex-chemist learned about the problem from online videos. He too felt anger and then despair. There seemed to be no solution. But he kept thinking about it. Finally he came up with a very powerful solution.

His central insight was to think of this not as a doomsday situation, but as an insurance situation. You insure yourself by doing five things that take about 15 hours total.

First, people would spend an hour learning why the grid was vulnerable. The ex-chemist put government documents, links to magazine articles and short videos on his gridemergency.org website to document the problem.

Second, people spend about four to six hours doing essential preparation. The ex-chemist wrote a detailed 34-page PDF and put it on his website. Those who could afford it would spend about $300 per person for supplies and a few essential pieces of equipment (for instance, to cook food or collect water). Unlike other kinds of insurance that were more expensive, the $300 was a one-time cost!

Third, people were to pressure national and local government to purchase and stockpile supplies for the roughly 30% who couldn’t or wouldn’t prepare. This would cost about $40 billion, and should be pushed as emergency funding. Many people doubted that government could be pushed so fast, but the ex-chemist reminded people that everyone was in the same boat and their survival was at stake. Thus, critical mass could be reached quickly.

Fourth, people were to pressure government to do two other things: get Homeland Security to create a robust rescue & recovery plan, and forcefully regulate the utilities so that they would shield their equipment.

All the advocacy would take about two hours total, done in brief five-minute phone calls, emails, or Facebook/Twitter posts.

Finally, people were to inform and support close friends and out-of-town family to follow their example. Those learning about it must also pass on the information to their networks. This action would lead to a chain-reaction of preparation. The key was to treat this threat as urgent. If each person passed this information on to seven others within ten days, it would take four months. (Six months seems more realistic.)

Here were three great outcomes of the ex-chemist’s plan: 1) It boosted a person’s self-esteem, optimism and security as soon as they began to prepare. People wouldn’t feel so helpless and trapped. 2) When they successfully passed it on to loved ones, their comfort level would increase further. 3) The plan offered significant preparation for every mega-disaster, from hurricanes and earthquakes, to pandemics, limited nuclear war or anything that would disrupt the economic supply chain.

Naturally, some people procrastinated. The ex-chemist confronted them by saying, “Many people believe that Congress betrayed the American people through inaction. Don’t let the same thing be said about you.”

Most people loved the plan. In 15 hours you were protecting yourself, loved ones, strangers, the economic future of the country, and the economic and political stability of the world! It was a beautiful, efficient and majestic plan.

Thus, in less than six months 340 million people could no longer be easily terrorized. The people had protected themselves.

[Many other questions and reservations are addressed at gridemergency.org. Or feel free to email timcimino@gmail.com with questions, suggestions or to volunteer.]

Tim Cimino is director of Group Genie, a nonprofit creativity organization that generates original solutions to help people.

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