Another Shot...

A year goes by, and no posts. How distracted we all become with the constant stream of madness that bombards our senses. I have spent the last year reorganizing my life- a new job that has taken me out of the corporate rat race and placed me on its periphery. I have focused on learning, and in some cases, re-learning some very basic skills that I know one day will be absolutely needed, no longer novelty. I have perfected my gardening, learned to sprout new life, located a large tract of land that I will soon purchase. My goal is to post at least one time here daily, even if its for random musings.

I had a great conversation with my mother on her visit this weekend- a woman who is very tuned in... she too sees a bleak future. We have rammed civilization into a unsustainable position- very little we have is sustainable- most of it artifically created or dependent on resouces that are undeniably being depleted very rapdily. The economy- what a sham... debt-based economy using fiat currency, with future obligations so large that there is really no statistical way to honor them. The environment-- massive polution (GoM/BP, Fukushima, North Sea, droughts, depleted top soil, famine). The culture- a wasteland of consumerism and lack of responsibility.

Be prepared, the motto of the Boy Scouts.

And I Return

For those few readers who stumble across this little corner of the interwebs, apologies for being absent for a couple months- I live on the US Gulf Coast, and as a prepper, you can imagine that I have been somewhat preoccupied with a little explosion and subsequest "leak" in our beautiful Gulf. What has happened here is a travesty if epic proportions, and I assure you that the GOM ecosystem is going to suffer longer that you or I will be here to document it.

Again, I would like to refocus this blog back to where I initially wanted to bring it, which was not focusing on prepping from a gear or tangible asset standpoint, but prepping mentally. I have stumbled across a set of books by Alan Watts and its amazing how much of his philosophy has been repackaged and profited from my new age gurus of today... maybe they are on to something. I digress.... so, the point I am trying to make here, is that some of his core philosophy can be tightly integrated into what we preppers are doing today.

More to follow.

Earth Abides

Earth Abibes is a 1949 post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel by American writer George R. Stewart. It tells the story of the fall of civilization from deadly disease and its rebirth. Beginning in the United States in the 1940s, it deals with Isherwood (Ish) Williams, Emma, and the community they founded. The survivors live off the remains of the old world, while learning to adapt to the new. I just finished listening to this audiobook and although it was not my favorite of the genre, it did make me take pause at one sentence:
"they had specialized to a point where they could not adapt to the changing conditions"

Sound familiar at all? Have we specialized to a point where we cannot adapt to the changing conditions? How many of us would be able to adapt to the following conditions:
1. Significant personal financial loss
2. Cessation of relied-upon services like electricity, water/sewer, natural gas, schooling?
3. What happens if your local grocery cannot stock items you rely upon or your local gas station no longer has fuel?
4. Your doctor is out of your required medication due to shortages?

I only offer a mere few examples of the plethora or permutations available for discussion... but the focus for me is not necessarily on what the event might be, but how do I prepare myself to adapt to changing conditions. In business, using sole-source contracts for critical components introduces significant risks to the company- what happens if the supplier of the most important part of your widget goes out of business- you are in a bind. Frame this scenario individually- what happens when you become comfortable relying on a sole source or method for the delivery of the most fundamental necessities of your life- once again we see a high risk.

I have often thought of developing a "preparedness rating" model to determine individual and collective levels of preparedness or ability to adapt to changing conditions. Simple inputs would yield a ranking along a preparedness continuum. Perhaps we use a ranking like Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs as seen below. Thoughts?

Cybersecurity Act of 2009

From Govtrack.com

"Per­haps the most con­tro­ver­sial pro­vi­sion is the one which al­lows the Pres­i­dent to de­clare a cyber emer­gen­cy and then re­strict or even com­plete­ly deny ac­cess to sec­tions of the in­ter­net con­sid­ered to be vital to the U.S. na­tion­al in­ter­est. While that seems like a sen­si­ble idea the con­cern about it is the lack of over­sight pro­vi­sion. There is no re­quire­ment that the pres­i­dent in­form Congress, or that they can re­view his ac­tions and over­turn them." Full text of the bill here.

Slippery slope....

Civil Disobedience (Thoreau 1849)

This gem by Thoreau, although born of another time, is still applicable in many respects today. Like this quote: "How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answered that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it." Another of my favorites: "I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe — "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have." Read the whole text here.

Preparation during the current turbulence and rapidly approaching mess extends beyond mere purchasing of tangible assets (although those actions are critical), you must also temper your mind. This is the first post of many that I hope to be helpful to the community of individuals making haste to prepare mentally for the Wasteland.

-CP