Civil Defense and What is a Technical Writer

Let's Describe How We Make a Living With Our Hands for the Young

NOTE: I encourage other Substack writers to also tell young people how they make a living with their hands. We all make a living with our hands, whether it is building rockets to Mars, growing fruit to feed hungry families, educating about the horror of the bioweapon we were hit with in 2020, providing hope and a vision of a wonderous future despite the horror, or giving the blueprint of how they lied to us and how we fix it. Let us share it with younger people who may be casting about for a way to make a living.

Flipping the Modern Inversion

I’m getting tired of the despair, the victimhood whining and crying, the “life is harder than ever before” from people who have not suffered or cracked open a history book to have an informed opinion. Here is what another 21-year old went through if you want to compare your own “suffering” to know just how good you have it

Here’s some advice my brother gave me in my early twenties that has stuck with me to my sixties, “The world doesn’t owe you a living. In fact, the world doesn’t owe you anything. You owe the world.”

As elders, we have a responsibility to train up the young to be able to deal with the world. My own mission has been fatherhood, technical writing, civil defense training, poetry, martial arts, continuous reading, sacrificing for others to get over my own pain, and singing in the church choir. I have spent a lifetime learning these skills and others to be able to pass them on to new generations.

Here are some insights into what a technical writing life is in case you want to pursue that field. From what I have seen from the president of the University of Pennsylvania (my alma mater and the home of the corrupt Riden Center) and other “Ivy League” institutions, they are failing you miserably so, sadly, few of you know how to make a living.

I am telling you what they will never tell you in their continuous classroom communist propaganda, “No, the government will not provide for you. You are on your own. You must earn a living. No, college is not free. Nothing is free. College debt loan forgiveness is a hoax. And college, other than learning engineering or the hard sciences, has nothing to offer you when it comes to earning a living.”

Last year one million fewer males went to college as they realized they will have to earn a living with their hands and college is not the place to learn that skill set. Good for them. They will be able to provide for their families. Many will go into the trades and have a satisfying career, marry young, have a family, work with their hands, and be happy.

In my decades of civil defense work, I have seen the government fail too many Americans who, after a manmade or natural disaster, actually believed “the government” would save them from their and their families despair and destruction.

Here’s a tip: The government (whatever that is) has underground bunkers called Raven Rock all over the nation so they can survive a catastrophic event. The billionaires and millionaires also have built survival bunkers. They all plan to survive. And they don’t give a rat’s ass about you, your family, or this nations survival. Ask yourself: “What do they know that you you do not?”

To survive what is coming, figure out what you want to go with your hands and do it. That way, you can find a spouse, have beautiful children, experience family love, hope, charity, grace, beauty, patience, prudence, health, and wonder. And find a community, be it church, hobby, work, sports, music…whatever. No one survives alone.

And I hate to break it to you, but social media is a mythical community where adults play children’s “pretend” games. It can disappear in one electromagnetic (EMP) blast. Worse, Tic Toc is a Communist Chinese Party/People’s Liberation Army (CCP/PLA) influence operation designed to make you weak, stupid, immature, victim conscious, dependent, despairing, and with no skills or self worth. Proof? Look up how Tic Toc works in Communist China versus how it works in the United States.

My 45-Year Career in Technical Writing

I provide the steps below to help educate any young people who want to consider a career in technical writing, communication, or the non-glamorous side of media, content creation.

Often, I am asked what a technical writer is and what they do. Mostly, the person asking wants to know how we contribute value to the bottom line of an organization. What follows is an effort to explain briefly what technical writers are and what we do.

1. Technical writing is a HUGE field. Although most people know that technical writers produce user manuals, quick start guides, checklists, procedures, technical bulletins, website content, blogs and other content, others may not fully understand what else is involved in being a technical writer.

2. Technical writers are one of the few professionals within an enterprise who interact with most of the departments that make up the organization. Therefore, they may know and can communicate information that others cannot. Get to know them.

3. Technical writers connect subject matter experts, professionals, technicians, everyday users, clients, and others with digital and paper products that act as a force multiplier for people and organizational productivity.

4. Technical writers transform disorganized data, words, figures, charts, graphs, photos, and other content into elegant and useful communication materials that transfer knowledge from the expert to those who need that knowledge to accomplish their tasks.

5. Technical writers make effective use of communication fundamentals and standards (ISO, CMMI, 508, etc.) to create better and more elegant documentation.

6. Technical writers understand that PEOPLE and their personality and writing differences must be considered to create great documentation.

7. Technical writers stay current on best practices, standards, software tools, shifting technology and new data that impact technical communication. Membership in the Society for Technical Communication, Write the Docs, or other technical writer professional societies are a great way to stay up with the profession.

8. Technical writers know and use alternative methods when necessary to reach a variety of internal and external partners.

9. Technical writers document knowledge in plain English for American and non-American audiences, so simple is always best.

   

10. Technical writers are, by nature, intellectually curious. This is only one of many traits that help create a successful technical writer, but it is one of the most important.

11. The best part of a technical writing career is that you get paid to learn new technology.

12. Technical writing is not the most secure career as companies hire and fire technical writers daily. But it is a great way to make a living. And it is a great way to support a family in an honest and productive way.

13. I am told artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) will one day obviate the need for a technical writer. I do not think so as someone must interpret the information. AI/ML are tools, like a hammer and saw. They do not have the spark of creativity and will never replace human ingenuity and judgement.

14. It is often hard, but as with engineers, technical writing is more often rewarding because you accomplish something that helps others every day.

So, figure out what you can do with your hands. Yes, your mind is important, but the hands feed the mind. If you don’t know where to start, put the palms of your hands together and pray. The Holy Spirit will guide and protect you and tell you how to use your hands to make a living.

Trust me.