This Autumn all residents of Sweden got this little gem in the post, and there was a spate of International news articles about it. Finland published a similar (digital) document as well, as described by this BBC article on the trend across the Nordics. NATO membership and increased sabre-rattling has been cited as the reason, but realistically the pandemic was the most recent national emergency response, Ukraine-related energy crisis notwithstanding.
I may not be the only Swedish resident making preparedness part of my ‘New Year’s Resolutions’. We may or may not get iodine tablets, but it is enough of an undertaking to keep the pantry stocked with staples and water for a few days, and also keeping enough camping gas and water purification equipment to get by for more than a week. Our backpacking kit from the summer shows we have a good start when it comes to supplies, including solar chargers for our phones and a crank radio.
The guide is clear that some of the important preparations are not just things that you buy or collect, but rather skills and relations. Do you know your neighbors well-enough to collaborate and solve problems? (I could do a better job of this.) My CPR and first aid are woefully out-of-date, which would be good to remedy and might also spur a more comprehensive first aid kit. Recent news articles based on a national study lamented that the physical fitness of the average Swede has been going down enough that the military leaders are concerned about the population’s ability to withstand the hardships or war/occupation, not for fighting per se but the forbearance for bad conditions that could cause one to give up/give in. This gives more weight to the typical ‘get fit in 2025’ goals!
Although I very much liked living in a post-cold-war world and deplore a global shift towards fascism/authoritarianism, I am not very concerned about our safety here, and I don’t lose sleep over the chances for war. Still, it can’t hurt to be prepared and it seems like minimal effort to contribute to the greater good in a free society that has benefited us a lot.