Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

I mentioned earlier that there are some folks out there that just didnt get the memo. On the other side of the coin, there are those who not only got the memo but also take it to heart. Case in point for today, those fun loving Mormons.

Mormons well-served by self-reliance in hard times

Mormons may be among the country’s best prepared to weather the current economic hard times. Since the Great Depression, church leaders have preached a doctrine of self-reliance and selflessness, calling on members to plan for their own future while tending to the needs of others.

“It’s a critical component of our theology,” said Bishop David Burton, a senior church administrator who oversees the faith’s worldwide welfare and humanitarian services programs.

Members are encouraged to squirrel away a few months’ worth of living expenses and stock a one-year supply of emergency food. Church handouts, classes and a Web site describe how to prepare, store and cook with emergency food supplies so nothing goes to waste.

Although there is obviously a religious component involved in this, I’ve never been ‘preached to’ or otherwise fed any religious dogma in my experiences at the Mormon cannery although they do start of each session with a fairly generic prayer that would pretty much fit into just about any flavor of Christianity. Then again, Im open-minded enough to just ignore the religious parts and focus on what needs to be done rather than stand around arguing some sort of theological minutia. Seriously, if having to listen to five minutes worth of religion gets me a couple hours of access to a dry-pack cannery…well, its five minutes well spent in my opinion.

Anyway, my point is that this is an excellent example of group cohesiveness. You have a demographic that has set up, organized, operates and perpetuates it’s own internal welfare and preparedness system. Pretty cool. I often wish that they had some sort of affiliate or junior membership…something that gets you all the benefits (or some of them anyway) without having to drink the Koolaid. You know, like joining triple A….send in a few bucks, ignore the literature they send but still get the roadside service.

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The gift-giving part of the season is done…I did pretty well. I got a really cool watch, a Warcraft t-shirt, and a few stocking stuffers. The missus got something that I had never seen before but was immediately captivated by: Ironkey

This baby has a browser built into it so when you surf it leaves no trail on the computer youre using. Anyone tampers with the USB drive case body – it fries itself. Ten failed password attempts? It fries itself. The security applications of this sort of thing seems readily apparent. I may need to get one of these for myself.