06 CONTINUITY PLANNING

Survival & preparedness — treat this like any other long-tail risk

An AGI-driven disruption is one entry on the same list as a regional grid failure, a severe financial shock, or a natural disaster: low probability of the worst case, high cost if unprepared, and the mitigations overlap almost completely with general household resilience.

Tiered preparedness levels

This manual recommends planning in tiers rather than an all-or-nothing posture:

  • Tier 1 — Disruption (weeks). Job market shock, service outages, information chaos. Addressed by the financial and digital protocols in Chapter 03.
  • Tier 2 — Regional instability (weeks to months). Infrastructure strain, supply disruption. Addressed by standard household emergency preparedness: water, food, power, medical, and communications reserves sized to your household, per FEMA/Ready.gov-grade guidance.
  • Tier 3 — Severe, extended disruption (months+). A genuine low-probability tail scenario. Addressed by community-level coordination, skills, and location resilience — not by any individual purchase.

Core household reserves (Tier 1–2)

  • Water: minimum 1 gallon per person per day, 2-week reserve.
  • Food: 2–4 weeks of shelf-stable supply your household actually eats — rotated, not stockpiled and forgotten.
  • Power: a tested backup power plan sized to essentials — refrigeration, medical devices, communications, heat or cooling.
  • Medical: a supply of household prescriptions beyond the standard refill cycle, a documented list of medications and dosages, and a basic trauma-capable first aid kit.
  • Cash: enough physical currency on hand to function for two weeks if electronic payment systems are degraded or untrustworthy.
  • Documentation: physical and encrypted-digital copies of IDs, deeds, insurance policies, and medical records, stored in more than one location.

Skills and community — the actual Tier 3 asset

PROTOCOL

Past a certain severity, the household unit that fares best is not the one with the most supplies — it's the one embedded in a functioning local network: neighbors, extended family, a faith or civic community, tradespeople you know personally. Invest time in those relationships now. It is the single highest-return preparedness action available and it degrades in value the longer you wait to build it.

Practical skills worth having regardless of scenario: basic first aid and CPR certification, home system repair (water, power, heating), and financial literacy sufficient to manage a household budget without relying on automated tools you may not trust or be able to reach.

TIER 1–2: STANDARD PREP TIER 3: COMMUNITY

What this chapter is not

This is continuity planning for a disruptive economic and informational transition — not a plan premised on armed conflict with an autonomous system, which is neither a realistic individual response nor one this manual will speculate about mechanically. The actual levers against that scenario are institutional and technical, and they're covered in Chapters 04 and 05.

In this section

Tiered AGI Preparedness: A Framework, Not a BunkerA three-tier preparedness framework for AGI-related disruption — matched to how severe and how likely each scenario actually is.
Core Household Reserves: The Standard Preparedness ChecklistThe standard water, food, power, medical, and financial reserves every household should have — independent of the cause of disruption.
Financial Continuity Planning for Extended DisruptionHow to structure household finances so they hold up through weeks or months of serious disruption, not just a routine emergency.
Community and Local Networks: The Highest-Leverage Preparedness AssetWhy local relationships — not supplies — are the strongest predictor of how a household fares through severe, extended disruption.
Skills Worth Building Now, Regardless of How AGI UnfoldsPractical skills that pay off across every disruption scenario — not just an AGI-specific one.
Bug-Out vs. Shelter-in-Place: Choosing the Right ResponseHow to decide between staying put and relocating during a serious disruption — and why the decision framework matters more than either specific plan.
Water, Power, and Food Security for Extended DisruptionA deeper look at water, power, and food planning for disruptions that last well beyond a standard two-week reserve.