Well, as much as I enjoy taking a big wooden spoon and dipping it into the pot of crap and stirring it up as fast as I can to get maximum splatter effect so I get everyone all riled up and pissed at me, one of these days I’m just going to write up a concise argument for positions I take that generate controversy and post it on my web site. Then, when a wounded minion demands clarification I can just link them to it and avoid rehashing the point once again. Not that I don’t enjoy arguing but sometimes I need to take a break from proven how right I always am. But something good did come out of the fifty comments, other than my entertainment, and that is today’s article. Not that I haven’t covered it before. Just like my “how to wash your tin cup” article. Hey, when you are preaching to the choir a lot of the same stuff gets beaten to death like a dead horse. Even your Yuppie Survivalist God Rawles keeps covering the same old crap. Which I’ve also said before. Perhaps you get an original thought once a month. That’s why you pay me the big bucks. Even Horatio Alger
books followed the same premise time after time of poor bitch working hard and getting rich. Same plot, different words. And the series was very successful. Not because people hated hearing the same message over and over, but because they liked it. Lie to people, tell them what they want to hear, you make money. Working hard gets you paying more taxes. Lying gets you rich. I could lie to you, tell you a comfortable luxurious lifestyle is possible after the apocalypse. I could insult your intelligence. Instead I just insult you when you fail to think clearly and for yourself. Even I’m capable of being full of crap. I said capable. *
I think another dangerous misconception, other than Yeoman farming independence, semi-autos being necessary or even smart, the possible rediscovery of another Alaskan or North Sea oil field or the advisability of staying in a big city to earn a few more bucks is thinking that you will be able to transition from an oil rich environment to a Third World peasant existence at will. Why indeed deprive yourself of life’s little luxuries if you don’t have to? You think you can go from 24/7 electricity, hot running water, a thirty year mortgage and an SUV with never ending payments to living in a tarp lined pit eating beans and walking down to the river for water beating off rabid dogs with a stick at the drop of a hat? Of course you CAN. The average human is capable of supreme feats of mental reconditioning. If forced to. So I imagine almost everyone, once forced, will eventually come to terms with primitive living conditions. But it isn’t a light switch. The process is instant physically but not mentally. There will be a price to pay by not conditioning yourself ahead of time. You will experience quite a bit of stress and that will translate to both physical illness and a mental slow down. Remember back to the most stressful event you ever had. Chances are good soon after you were actually sick. When the Handmaiden Of Lucifer divorced me, back before I began to view wives leaving as natural and inevitable, I was sick for a month with some nasty nasal infection. And I’m almost never ill. When I am it is usually in a limited manner. I also got a bunch of cavities for the first time since I was seven years old using my first allowance to take up part time residency in the candy store. And I got a really weird infection in the back of my throat that swelled so bad I couldn’t drink water. When the doctor drew out the crap with a big horse needle it was a disgusting montage of green, white and red. I have no idea what caused it. I’ve never been that sick before or after. Stress, it’s what kills you.
*
As your mind is reeling trying to cope with this change, not only do you get ill but your brain rebels. You don’t know how, but it will. At the very least you are going to experience lack of sleep which will cause lack of alertness. Just the thing when roving bands of bandits are trying to harvest your flesh for the stew pot. You probably think I’m being ridiculous, that I’m blowing things out of proportion. The ancient advice of testing yourself with a weekend without power should point out how unprepared you are and how much stress it will cause. Don’t buy extra camping gear or in any way make special provisions for the event. Just do it as is, with what you already have. And no driving the car to where there is electricity. Even if you are a super survival stud I’ll wager a family member will experience so much discomfort they will endeavor to make your life uncomfortable also. And even if you did pass with flying colors, could you test yourself in other, more uncomfortable ways? I’d wager not. You’ll make do, but the point is your stress level. Everyone advises you to get in shape. Go to a gym, eat right, etc. But they don’t tell you to practice for deprivation. Getting in shape gets you laid and releases endorphins. It isn’t exactly unpleasant. Depriving yourself is a whole other ball of wax. It used to be normal. “Cowboy Up”. If you were a Jarhead, you’ve been there. Perhaps you might be an exception, although I’d wager that the more time that passes the less easy the transition from luxury to poverty would be.
*
Living poor might not be necessary right now. But it will be. Far better to practice it now, and learn what tools will make it easier. And when it gets real, you are half way there mentally. But don’t listen to Jim, you never do anyway. I’m almost used to it.
END
My web page http://www.bisonpress.com/
19 comments:
jim, you won't have to worry about ending up in a stew pot...most people won't eat foodstuffs unless in comes from the store. more of the Thoreau stuff and less of the 'eating the carcus of those who didn't give me money...' stuff.
Really, for a Randnoid you should embrace your 'inner failure' and stop blaming your market failure on us cheap stingy bastards.
btw, does anybody know anybody that actually got rich working hard ? does anybody know any rich people that didn't inherit their money ?
i like hardwork, but only if it's for myself and i'm getting all the profits of my labor.. so fuck off you cheap old stingy bastards and your boring WWII stories.
Cody Lundin (Abo Man) built a house in the high desert. Good ideas here.
Members of the Elko enclave could help each other build.
http://www.codylundin.com/codys_house.html
I wouldn't worry about the stewpot, you'll probably get run over by a asshat neighbor on your way home from work.If you're lucky you'll die instantly.Sure wouldn't want you to survive as a cripple and then be dependent on government welfare.
If you really want to prepare for the end of the world,cut out the propane. Anybody can live in a heated RV. Turn off the heat for a few weeks,deprive yourself of that luxury.Then you'll be Super Survival Stud.
Bison,
Your buddy Cody Lundin has a firestarter that will last forever, theoretically anyways. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you and your readers will have to read my lastest post (www.creampuffdiaries.blogspot.com).
Cody Lundin videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWpSVNrt0LU
http://chilechews.blogspot.com/
She wrote about what it was like to go a weekend without power. They are prepared people. Interesting read. Solar cooking and all. I read it and thought "Hell, I can't even remember where half my stuff is." I need to rethink that at least.
Biguns- good point on the propane, but remember how little I use. None at night, max out at ten hours on low and it is rare to get over 60 in the winter. We wear wool inside most of the time. I hope to go underground soon. I realize my dependance. I won't stay there too much longer. Because I am paranoid and expect the worse. But I concede, a good point regardless. I'm all about the love for ya, bro.
And remember, its okay to be on welfare. Just don't expect it as an entitlement. It's gravy, not a right. But sarcasm and whit noted.
Mr. Dakin,
Just wanted to compliment you on your hair and on your supreme literacy and good sense. Today's post sounds like you could use a compliment or two.
I agree with your points and will follow them, one by one, as soon as I am out of debt. Paying off the man is a full time hobby. Sad, I know.
Thankfully, inspiration is as close as your blog. I do splurge on your ebooks. Thanks for them, also.
To answer your question from yesterday, yes Victorious Civil War vets (can you guess which side my ancestors fought on?) received disability payments. Our national cemetery system, also, got its start in the civil war.
It's all documented, quite well, in Drew Gilpin Faust's book This Republic Of Suffering.
After last years ice storm we went 3 weeks with no power and another with no water, based on that experience I'd say a weekend is not a full experience. Yes, if a weekend is hard the prepping went wrong somewhere but it misses all the long term stuff that gets you. It isn't the big stuff but the diddley, minor, oops forgot that that makes a sudden change difficult.
Thanks to a faulty gas regulator that leaked all our propane we went without heat for a week. No we had no woodburner - we had only moved in a month before. A real eye opener to be certain. It is also the reason that most people who plan on bugging out to someplace else will have more trouble that just finding a good road to drive on.
One example: trash. Paper products, empty cans, bottles & jars...a weekend's worth is doable just do same old same old. Enough stored water and dishes can be washed, wood burner and paper can be burned. Not outside though, burn bans so no one burns their neighbors out because there's no water for fire fighters, no phones to call them and no way to get around due do downed everything. Cell phones you say? Well cell towers run on electricity too and not every company has a backup plan. Garbage is the last thing on a municipality mind in a disaster.
Anyway a weekend just gives a small taste.
Maybe if Jim one day posted "today's the day" and everyone who wanted practice went and threw the breaker box, turned off the phone(including cell), and walked everywhere. That might be a good trial run. I suggest the element of surprise because when a no-electric weekend is planned most people do additional prep work: laundry caught up, showers taken, extra snacks, little extras that aren't always there in a surprise situation. Now *that* would be a test.
We learned a lot. Better yet relatives have stopped thinking I'm a total nutcase. Well at least the ones that matter.
oldsubotai,
"Tomorrow is my 16th wedding anniversary. My wife is the reason the sun shines."
HAPPY! Anniversary! Thank you for your service!!!! You are truly deserving of all your country can give, and so-much more!!!!
Jim, great post! I will never understand how you can write so well, and on a daily basis. Your whit is unequaled! Not to mention you dont seem to shy from a controversial subject.
O ya,
Save The Whales!!!!!!
Buck
Thank you
If your ex wife is Lucifers handmaid, then my ex husband surely qualifies as Satan's Cabana Boy. When we split, I went from living in a comfy 2 bedroom apartment to a tent in a wooded area of an urban environment. Possoms, raccoons and crackheads, OH MY!
I made it. It was tough, but I worked my way out of it--legally and with no government hand outs.
5+ months of no electric, no tv, nothing but my own efforts to sustain me. It can be done, it just takes determination.
I made it through Hurricane Ike down here in Texas. No Power, no water, no phone, etc. Did just fine. Didn't go and grab MREs and water from the friendly National Guard guys down at the shopping center, either.
Don't denigrate folks out there that may be able to survive better than you would expect!
speaking of money we don't have:
Has anyone ever thought about us just making Mexico the 51st state? It would be a lot easier.
You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Read on...
Boy,was I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to be RIDICULOUS.
I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the readers gets sick of reading them. I also have included the URLs for verification of all of the following facts.
1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77
2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/ TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare and Social Services by the American taxpayers.
Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html
9. $200 Billion dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI PTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html
11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S. from the Southern border.
Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.com/t9sht
12. The National Policy Institute, estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.'
Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf
13. In 2006, illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances to their countries of origin.
Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm
14. 'The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One million sex crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States.'
Verify at: http: www.drdsk.com/articleshtml
The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR AND IF YOU'RE HAVING TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY; IT IS $338,300,000,000.00 WHICH WOULD BE ENOUGH TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY FOR THE CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY...
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