Two of Everything | A policy to live by

Why Personal Redundancy Is the New Survival Strategy

It took me a full year to find a new primary care doctor. By the time I succeeded, I didn’t have one — I had two.

That wasn’t accidental. It was a decision.

I now keep two of everything: primary care doctors, specialists, dentists, cars, and even jobs when possible. Not out of excess, but out of necessity. Because in today’s world, continuity is no longer guaranteed — and waiting to be abandoned is no longer a viable strategy.

The Myth of Stability

I’m the kind of person who researches deeply. I interview, test, and evaluate before committing. Once I choose, I’m loyal. I’m locked in. But I’ve realized, I’m often the only one making a long-term commitment.

Doctors leave practices. Employers restructure. Systems collapse quietly. And when they do, the people who relied on them are left scrambling — often for months or years.

When I finally found a primary care physician who was thoughtful, thorough, and genuinely human, I was relieved. Together, we identified and navigated major health conditions. She was early in her career, and I assumed — perhaps naively — that we’d grow old together. Like the doctors my mother had growing up. The kind who knew your family. Who stayed.

Then she left.

What followed was a year-long care vacuum: rescheduled appointments, nine-month waitlists, and providers I hadn’t chosen being assigned to me. One of them failed immediately — not clinically, but relationally. I wasn’t treated like a person.

This experience isn’t unique. It’s systemic.

The Data Behind the Disruption

Healthcare is only one example of a broader labor breakdown.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the U.S. faces a projected shortage of 37,800 to 124,000 physicians by 2034, driven largely by burnout and retirements. Nearly 40% of practicing physicians will be 65 or older within the next decade.

But this isn’t just a doctor problem.

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median employee tenure is 4.1 years, down from over 5 years in the 1980s.
• A 2023 Gallup report found that 59% of employees are “quiet quitting”, and only 32% are actively engaged at work.
• The Pew Research Center reports that younger workers change jobs at nearly twice the rate of Baby Boomers at the same age.

We’ve been warned about the “demographic cliff” for decades — the idea that retirements would outpace replacements. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: We didn’t just lose people.

We lost permanence.

From Mastery to Dabbling

This is where culture enters the conversation.

Work that feels like work — hard, imperfect, slow to reward — is increasingly rejected. Instead of enduring long enough to develop mastery, many workers cycle through roles, fields, and identities. Careers are sampled, not built.

The result is a workforce that is broad but shallow.

Sociologists call this the erosion of professional socialization — the process by which people learn not just skills, but endurance, judgment, and ethical responsibility over time. Without it, systems lose depth. Institutions lose memory. Relationships lose trust.

And the rest of us pay the price.

When doctors, teachers, tradespeople, and administrators leave early or often, access degrades. Wait times increase. Quality becomes inconsistent. Accountability disappears. So people like me adapt.

Redundancy Is Not Hoarding — It’s Strategy

I didn’t set out to have two doctors. I was forced into it.

After months of rescheduled appointments, I began booking multiple “new patient” visits — not because I was indecisive, but because I couldn’t afford another care gap. When confirmations finally came through, I kept them all. Because who knows when I’ll need another doctor?

That logic now applies everywhere. Two of everything isn’t excess — it’s insurance against instability.

In engineering, redundancy is how systems survive failure.

In aviation, it’s non-negotiable.

In finance, it’s called risk management.

In modern life, it’s becoming essential.

The Real Question

If individuals are quietly building redundancy to survive, it means systems are no longer trusted to hold.

So the real question is not why people keep backups — it’s why they have to.

• Why does healthcare require personal contingency planning?
• Why is continuity treated as optional?
• Why has perseverance been reframed as weakness instead of skill?

Until institutions reward longevity again — until staying is valued as much as leaving — people will continue to protect themselves the only way they can.

If you’re a professional:

Ask yourself whether you’re building mastery — or just motion.

If you’re a leader or policymaker:

Design systems that reward staying, not just starting.

If you’re an individual navigating modern life:

Stop assuming stability will be there when you need it. Build wisely. Plan redundantly.

Because in a world where everything feels temporary, resilience now belongs to those who prepare — not those who hope.

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Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Tenure Summary

Gallup, State of the Global Workplace

Pew Research Center, Job Switching and Workforce Trends