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2024
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7 Ways to Prepare Your Kids For the Coming Crisis… How to Set Them Up to Thrive
We urge you to read what he has to say… Western civilization has been circling the drain for decades, but the time is coming where much that we now take for granted will be flushed away. Mass migration, rapid devaluation of the dollar from inflation, a dying culture, ever increasing government controls, crime rates…we’ve got a lot to deal with. I’m sure you’ve been preparing yourself for it by buying guns, securing hard assets like silver and gold, and getting out of dodge by moving to rural areas or even leaving the country… Many of your own preparations are meant to shield your kids from what may come (i.e. violence, culture wars, market crashes, war, travel restrictions). That’s all good, but what are you going to do to prepare your kids? Disasters may be in route, but your kids still have a long life to live. How can you empower them to thrive? Imagine you knew the Covid hysteria was coming in advance, how might have you better prepared your kids for that? The age of difficulty is upon us. You see storms on the horizon. How do you prepare your kids to thrive? Well, I’ve compiled a list of 7 things you can do to set your kids up for success moving forward.
I was 14 years old back in 2020 when Covid, the BLM riots, and the election brought the world into one of the layers of Hell. Not sure which layer, but as you know, it was worse than bad. Over that summer my father explained to me more of what was going on, as well as just how bad things might get. Now, it didn’t get as bad as he said it could (at least it hasn’t yet and I’m thankful for that) but there’s no doubt that the position the world is in now is indescribably worse than it was back in 2019. It wasn’t easy to take in the information my dad gave me, but it prepared me for the future. He did me a service in the long run. I encourage you to do the same with your kids. Talk to them. Expose them to bits and pieces of current events and explain their significance. It should be an ongoing conversation. Of course, do this within reason. You’ll have to determine what amount of truth and speculation is reasonable to share depending on their age and level of maturity.
Any dark situation must be opposed and overcome by a positive, clear, and focused force. It’s easy to get caught up in the never-ending cycle of negative news and forget about a solution… If you’re in your own doom loop, addicted to the negativity of current events, your wife and kids will see it. Soon they’ll wonder if you’ve got a plan, a solution, a way forward. When my dad told me about the bad stuff going on he always accompanied it with a conversation about our plan. “Here’s where we are right now, here’s what might happen, here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll be ok.” And he always encouraged me to ask questions. Soldiering on through the problems of our time on your own is great, but if you chart a course for your family and get them to willingly walk that path with you, you’ll find that your family will become an unstoppable force that’s aimed at overcoming and achieving. You need to figure out how your family can move forward toward a worthwhile (and shared) goal through the difficulties we will all face. The increased familial bond from aiming towards a common goal is worth it in of itself…
As a parent of older kids (14-18) you need to aid your kids by helping them to learn as many valuable skills as possible. You’re kids are capable of so much more than most parents typically expect. Here’s a few things they can do and places they can go to learn valuable skills:
Many of these things are better for 16-18 year olds. Unfortunately, many places that teach skills require you to be at a certain age to attend. But, the things on this list (and many other skills) are great for your older kids. Who knows how the world will change and what skills will be more useful than others. Either way, an individual should have some sort of skill set, your children included. Skills will give them the confidence and competence to confront whatever future comes their way. While your older kids are off learning skills there’s something you need to do for your younger kids (13-15)…
Up until recent history we were putting young boys through trials meant to bring them into manhood. In Rome there was the tradition of trading in the toga praetexta for the toga virilis (toga of manhood) once a boy was deemed fit for manhood.
The Masai tribe of Africa would conduct a ruthless rite of passage for their boys…having them face off against a lion in a 1 V 1 battle. Some of the North American Indian tribes had their boys go on a vision quest…
Today, we have no structure to usher boys into manhood. The rite of passage is one of the forgotten traditions. Its absence from our culture has been one of the many reasons for the destruction of the western world. When I was 13 my father put me through a rite of passage. I had to complete a series of tasks meant to test me while also teaching me the values of our family. To my regret, I never completed the rite of passage, and I wish I did. It would have better prepared me to be a man at a younger age. As the world grows worse, men are needed, not boys. If your boy has a good idea of what it means to be a man he will be more able to face adversity. It all starts with a rite of passage. I wrote more about the ritual of the rite of passage in this article: https://www.greatman.com/p/rite-of-passage
It really does seem as though the building decadence in the world is driving some of us back to what matters most… Family itself has become an afterthought in the west. Having kids is frowned upon, many of those who have families will set aside important familial events with the excuse of having to go to work, and the only thing holding most families together is the relation by blood. But, this is changing… Some people are realizing how insane it is not to value family. If you’re one of those people, I’m going to let you in on the most non-secretive secret that’ll enhance your family’s bond… Create a family coat of arms. Sit down with your spouse and kids. Study the meaning of different colors and symbols that can be added to a family coat of arms. Have the kids play a major role in its design. My family did this many years ago and it was fantastic. This is our family coat of arms:
It is a symbol of inherent meaning to us. We aren’t only bonded by blood but by values as well. You see, there are two main aspects to thriving through struggle, and life for that matter. One aspect is psychological (family connection, fortitude, persistence, having a “why”) and the other is physical (skill sets, education, assets, and physical location). I spoke more about creating a coat of arms in this article: https://www.greatman.com/p/coat-of-arms
You, as a parent, aren’t always going to be around to defend your kids. And no, I’m not talking about how you’re going to die one day… I mean that you aren’t around your kids 24/7 and won’t always be there to protect them. Your kids should begin to gather a variety of different skills to defend themselves. Take them to the gun range, have them sign up for Muay Thai and/or BJJ, and make sure they have a clear picture of why this is important. Even if we magically time traveled back to 2019 these self defense skills would still be more than valuable to anyone. Violence is increasing and likely will continue to do so into the future, especially going into the next U.S. elections. Besides, you may be able to defend you and your family, but why not have a cohesive team of at least somewhat capable individuals to protect and defend one another?
One of the best things you can do for your kids is get them to a location where the problems won’t be as acute, a place where you can be more resilient. The goal isn’t to bunker down, but to build up and it won’t be easy to do that in a place where everything is falling apart. It’ll be much easier to thrive in a place far separated from the major challenges that’ll be faced in places like the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe. Finding a quiet, peaceful, and lesser-known country is your best bet. That’s what we did by moving to Uruguay in late 2001. Even if you can’t get out of the country you should find an eden to settle yourself into. A bonus would be to find an eden surrounded by like-minded individuals who have kids of their own. Kids need kids. People need people. A combination of community and common values will benefit your kids of any age. Find a place to go and get out while you can.
Max Smith is the Earl S. Johnson Instructor in Political Science. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame and has a BA in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Max’s research interests focus on the history of political thought and contemporary democratic theory. Specifically, he is interested in the history of theories of civil conflict, the liberal tradition, early modern political thought, theories of toleration, American political thought, and ancient political thought. His current book project delves into Machiavelli's theory of civil conflict, aiming to provide insights into modern challenges of class conflict and party politics. While Machiavelli’s praise of certain forms of civil conflict has long been noted by scholars, Max’s project shows that it is more central to Machiavelli’s political philosophy and more complex than has been realized. Drawing on innovative interpretations of works including the Discourses on Livy, The Florentine Histories, The Prince, The Art of War, and various personal and professional correspondences, the project offers new resources for thinking about civil conflict for a political world in which neither consensus nor mutual understanding seem achievable. Beyond Max’s work on Machiavelli, his research on the conceptualization of civil conflict, and the deployment of theories of conflict by political theorists past and present to overcome, domesticate, or embrace the irascible part of politics deals with matters of central concern to scholars across the social sciences. His work on conflict draws on scholarship in History, empirical subfields in Political Science, Psychology, and other fields in the Social Sciences intersecting with research on topics including race, class, gender, political parties, civil war, and civil violence. His most recent publication, “Their Souls are Marching On: on what Abraham Lincoln and John Brown have in common,” forthcoming in American Political Thought, engages with these questions by uncovering a convergence between Lincoln’s and Brown’s justifications for their use of violence prior to and during the Civil War.
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Editor’s Note: Doug Casey and the International Man team have published extensively on the topic of the coming crisis, including actionable information and advice on how to survive and thrive. Today, we’re publishing an article written by 18-year old Maxim Smith on how to prepare your children for the difficulties ahead.
