in a land and time not so far away, people traveled with easy freedom between countries, states and cities. Back then possessions were not so many that you couldn't fit them in a wagon or two. There were certainly things that got left behind, with little fanfare. Comforts of home meant family and very few material goods. More often than not, people could carry the things (not human/animal) that meant the most to them on their backs if need be.
Furniture and homes were built by hand and stood proud in the wilderness. Food was handpicked, homegrown and often self-butchered. Clothing was handmade, knit or woven by soone near and dear to the wearer.
You see where I am headed with the fairy tale...I hope.
Industrial revolution, government interference and way too many other things have led us like lambs to the slaughter. We (as a people in general) are now dependent on flipping a switch to get light, opening the fridge for eggs and rolling to Wally World for 'necessities'...I would love to know what our ancestors would think of us now.
Soft? Lazy? Greedy?
Sure we are less prone to die from smallpox, dysentery, cholera (this remains to be seen btw), Indian attacks (p.s. don't push and they won't push back) and a myriad of other things that plagued early settlers and western bound folk. However, we now live with a massive obesity problem from lack of LIVING (or perhaps too much), heart disease, cancers from chemicals, new/harder to cure diseases/infections courtesy of global shipping and relying on other countries for our foodstuffs in accordance with the overuse of medications/antibiotics.
We still war with each other, we still try to dictate how others that are even slightly different from us should live, we still poke our big noses in where they aren't welcome (like it or not...it's a We situation).
We elect a man (even if you didn't vote for him, tough he's the leader) that decides to dictate how our children should be raised from day one out of the womb. Welcome, my friends, to Nazi America. Enjoy your stay.
Mayberry went through a list of 'no, thank you' a bit earlier...I have to agree with him. No thank you...we are just barely scraping by the majority of the time and really can't afford to pay for anyone else's comfort. We do good to keep ourselves and the screamers above the water line. Through the year we scrape to keep them in clothes/shoes/crayons and do without a lot of stuff we shouldn't have to for the sake of being able to make it to the next month with a roof over our head. Refund time rolls around right when we need it. This year we actually got ahead and are in a better place than we've been in years. But what about next year...and the next?
We've learned to live on lean and it's made us better for the most part. We could and can do without many of the creature comforts that so many find necessary.
Admission time: I'm almost wishing for a collapse...crazy, I know...but it would be a interesting study in American History to see how the population now would deal. Sure, there will be craziness, riots, insanity abounding. BUT it is the group of select few that would bounce back quickly and become the stuff this country was started from. Scrappy survivors, willing to do what was needed to be done to protect their freedom. I'd like to think that me and mine would be a part of that group. I'd like to think that after a short sojourn into the wilds, we would emerge stronger and better. But that's liking and fairy tales. I'm not silly enough to believe that the scrappy survivors will come out on top totally...the bad seed is always there and eventually things will go right on back to where they are.
It's a historical cycle. Humans have yet to learn from it. Every empire falls, every great dictator/leader/emperor dies, every civilization goes through radical changes. And like 'they' said...it's time for a change.
6 comments:
What an excellent post, my friend! I could not agree with you more...
Thanks for the outstanding work!
Everyone imagines themselves a survivor and not a casualty. Everyone imagines themselves a shooter and not the target. Everyone imagines themselves healthy and not sick. Everyone imagines themselves with full bellies not gaunt and hungry. Everyone imagines themselves...
If you imagine shooting, imagine being shot. Imagine those you love starving. Imagine dying of a simple infection. Imagine having to smash an abscessed tooth out of a loved ones mouth or maybe them even dying from it. Imagine burning your furniture to stay warm or stuffing newspaper in your boots. Imagine having to carry water in buckets or heat water over a fire.
That's the truth of collapse.
True, HDJ...all of it.
Not sure if it's a criticism of the post or not but I agree. Most don't see the flip side of the coin...I do. I do know that the other side involves true survival in every sense of the word.
There is very little that gets preached at me in one form or another that I don't already have a sense about anyway. It's not something that is common, I fear. Or if it is, not many tend to pay attention to that little instinct that is trying to tell them something important. Call it modern humanity.
Do I still get to have internete in this survivor senerio????
No Ang...you don't. Sorry!
Collapse and true survival infers to every aspect of easy modern living, at least to me. I'm sure others have a different perspective. But in the sense of having to get the hell outta Dodge and off to parts hereto unnamed...well, that means no net, no TV, no fast food...living the way it used to be.
Great post and I agree 100% - I too am ready to change the way we live - go back to homesteading and a simpler time - minus all the nazi-obama crap of course. Forget national service - haven't we paid enough already?
Ernie
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