I like to think that I am a cautionary tale writ large. Except for my hair, which should serve as an inspirational example of how blessedly the Age of Aquarius
was shot down in flames and Hippies
are no longer cool. Not that I have anything against being a slacker, smoking weed all day and in general enjoying life, communicating with the spirit world ( but only on weed, as on any other pharmaceutical you might get the scary parts instead of the groovy day-glo sparkling unicorn
trip ), it is just that the long hair has to go. Stop trying to look like a girl. Anyway, being a doomer is nothing to brag about. So, what follows is not me bragging so much as my commentary on a sad tale of paranoia and a wasted life ( unless I’m right, then I was a visionary and seer and the rest of you will end up in the stew pot, your trophy wives sold into slavery and your SUV turned into the covered horse drawn wagon for the local barbarian warlord [ with engine removed of course ] ).*
I believe I was reading http://www.energybulletin.net/ where a self proclaimed doomer
was explaining how circumstances ( unemployed thirty-something ) made him gloomy and looking forward to the apocalypse. Not the real apocalypse where legions of ethanol powered Harley-Davidson’s roam the back roads for targets to plunder, but his fantasy world in which Birkenstock
wearing princesses don’t have time to trim their underarm hair ( a sexy fit dancer singing in German about 99 red balloons
can get away with hairy armpits- the average female hippy that looks like Janet Reno’s date cannot ) as they are frolicking near a babbling brook and planting organic crops in between hugging trees and lighting a candle at the alter of Al Gore. This is not a true Doomer. Doomers everywhere should be appalled at this guy hijacking the label. Doomers know beyond a doubt that we are all going to die quickly and painfully. And that an organic fantasy land featuring free love
maidens ( oooh- let’s worship the fertility god
- dream on, dude ) is right out of a special ed Disney. Oh, look, I’m going to plant asparagus on my mortgaged land which the bank won’t repo and no one will bother me because I have an AR-15 and three weeks worth of MRE’s. For those farmers with paid off land and a few years worth of food stocks, you two or three can ignore my sarcasm. For the rest of you, you are in denial.*
Being a doomer sucks. If you are wrong you’ve wasted a life. Not the life of a worthless mouth breather
but a very special life- that of your own. Actually, I should clarify that. Being a frugal
doomer sucks. Being a rich doomer, you can have your cake and eat it too. Having to live cheap to afford living in a boonies and stockpile for the end of the world pretty much sucks. When I moved to Elko, my research had been incomplete. I compared several winters temperature wise to Carson City. Not bad, only ten degrees colder on average. But I neglected to find out that while Carson has four seasons, Elko only has two. Winter lasts at least six months here, but I was only looking at December through February. I made my move, and living here is a bit miserable. But I won’t move as warmer climes are crowded. Now, that might not have been too bad, as I was hired at a casino as the restaurant manager. Which only lasted one day. I was so worried having taken the job I didn’t sleep that night. When I can’t sleep, my subconscious is trying to send me a message. In this case, I was worried that the job was not very secure. They were running the place with shift managers waiting for a manager to be hired. So I was worried that soon as business slowed, my position would be the first to be eliminated and they would go back to shift managers. I don’t know if I was right, but the odds say I was. This is just one example of living life out of fear and paranoia
. I could have been making good money, which means more propane heat and the ability to attract a warm body to heat up the bed. But I’m convinced all is lost so I don’t try to live middle class ( or a close facsimile ). *
This is the same reason I don’t buy a car. Why buy something that will outlive the supply of its fuel? Why buy a propane fridge when that fuel will run out soon ( honestly, I have the RV fridge already, so I don’t need to buy, just hook up, but I won’t even get myself used to the convenience )? Why live in town when you’ll lose your job and be homeless? Better to live in a cold tin box. Look, I’m not crying here. I chose my lifestyle voluntarily. And I could go back to a normal wage slave
anytime I wished. I like living with almost no debt. Even at minimum wage taxed at 50% ( 30% of gross ex-wife tax, 20% Uncle Obammy bribe ), I can still rub a few extra bucks together each week. Buy a used book? Go out and eat? Buy more preps? I can do any and sometimes all because I choose to live frugal and primitive. I think the trade off is worth it. My point here is that living like a poor doomer is too frightening for most people because the sacrifice is too much. It is a high price for a wild gamble
( I don’t think it is a gamble, I’m 100% convinced, but I’m aware most others think it is a gamble ). So, to justify their low prep status, they deny the possibility of a doomer scenario. They spin tales and webs of self deceit to avoid having to make the sacrifice ( live in a crappy isolated locale, take a job based on company bankruptcy resistance rather than pay, never ending stockpiling ). Are you being honest with yourself, or just avoiding pain?END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon links in each article. You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
12 comments:
DANG! ya make me feel better for putting in them 70+hrs a week years ago to pay off an acquire my little 55 acres inna ozarks..still preparing..itsa way of life...
What the devil is wrong with you??
You're starting to sound sane....
Knock it off,,,,we love and want the wild, crazy lunatic.....
Want to read a hippie 'Live With Mother Gaia' type of book. LIVING ON THE EARTH, by Alicia Bay Laurel (but of course!) is one of those books. But with a little more down to earth advice - it writes of doing it, not wistfully wishing it were so. Sort of like that book by Paladin Press Years back that was printed in extremely small print format, 10 or pages per page. Buncha wilderness advice of back to landers who did it on a shoestring (you'd like it Jim), so way out there stuff. VITA? or something
Give it a look next time you can find it in a bookstore - you may end up owning it.
Your arsenal of information is your best tool. The more you know the better you can cope.
My 1991 3/4 ton 4x4 suburban has rear cargo doors vice tail gate.
With rear seats down it will hold 4x8 plywood. When I choose to
sleep in it safe from weather, and crawlers and biters, it is convenient to enter and exit the rear cargo doors. There is no
inside handle on the rear cargo door. I removed the panel on passenger side cargo door, looked through the access hole and located the lever the thumb button pushes to open the door, and the block that the key turns 90 deg to lock and unlock the door. I can make a small hinged door with velcro closure in the panel,and reach through to lock, unlock and open the door from inside.
Being of sound Pagan mind and body, and a prepper to boot, I...
Nah; probably just fooling myself. Guess as long as one's fantasizing, may as well hthink free faery-maid sex... love it large!!!
bison,
I agree that a collapse WILL HAPPEN!
I am curious if you think it will still happen in your lifetime? It seems that things can go bad, level off, improve a little, turn to shit again and cycle like that up and down for friggin years to come.
Is there some criteria for this sense of urgency I sense in all your writings or is it just wishful thinking. Not a dig- a legitimate question?
haha, i liked the alter of al gore - what did he become?
Ah, but isn't there a little bit of relief in knowing you don't have to worry about retirement. One of my co-workers with a rug rat is already concerned about paying for college. You've basically exchanged mental stress with physical discomfort.
BTW, if ya get past the smell, hippie chicks can be a lot of fun.
anon541-this is the $50k question, isn't it? When and how fast. We survive off oil, oil is decreasing ( even ignoring imports, just focusing globally )and we don't have the means or the will ( entrenched interests in power will fight it )to rebuild the solar energy economy. More windmills won't do it, we need to decentralize food production again. I don't think it will happen. Cuba could, being small. We can't being huge, urbanized and having all our calorie crops centralized. At 4% oil decline a year, it adds up fast to not enough. False starts on the collapse, then over the cliff. Real recoveries along the way impossible when the energy input is shrinking. Rome fell pretty fast after food imports declined to X amount. The same with us and oil. Crap, this should have been an article.
In my lifetime? How about any time now. Seriously, I would be surpised if we could be talking using the Internet in five to ten years. Of course, I'm really paranoid. On that note, my paranoia used to be twenty years too early. Now it is on a two to three year cycle.
Jim, today’s blog is so... Monkish. I’m thinking of sending you one of those orange Monk’s robes :-)
Self-denial certainly adds credence and intrigue to your interesting and entertaining diatribes.
However, with that attitude, one might as well go-ahead and build their own rough saw casket from pilfered pallet materials, being sure to carefully remove and re-use all the nails (not that I haven’t done that for building a bench or two in the past). Then, just place it in a six-foot deep hole to live in until you die. Hey, we all know that we’re going to die in our “lifetime”. So, why not “prep” for this imminent event in such a way? Well, because it makes no sense… It’s a total waste of life.
Call me kooky, but I choose to live my life in a bit more comfort whenever possible, while still saving/prepping for those rainy days/weeks/months/years… Come-on Jim, live a little, get that propane fridge going and keep it filled with a few cold ones :-)
August 2012 is the month, hurricanes will add to oil decline price spikes that continue to pummel the economic viability of much of what US and modern countries still take for granted. Natural disasters and false flag events in conjunction will be used to modify and improve the police state. Crime rates skyrocketing will concurrently occur as all of the bankrupt states cut back even further, after the State Bailout "jobs package" of 2011 runs out of money. Geopolitical wars ensue, religious people prepare for the 2nd coming, meanwhile civilization continues although the 1st world begins to look more like the 3rd world for most of the population, and people start believing in lot's of Magic unicorn theories to help them deal with the cognitive dissonance and limited high fructose corn syrup foods they are used to slowly destroying their health with.
Multiculturalism breaks down as simple tribalistic and base mentality breaks through, and the US and other "melting pot" countries begin to see why so many other countries (poorer one's) had to deal with genocides. City life become's unbearable, gated areas begin to form, private security become's a growth job field, and Soylent green bars, made from Corn stalks are sold to help minimize the pangs of hunger. 2013 Mr. Dakin begins to eat his stored beans, and no longer gets to blog--as internet becomes like air travel--only for Yuppies and those in certain areas where the grid remains stable. 2017 Asteroid hits earth, destroying much of China--Walmart finally shuts down it's Soylent green stores.
Post a Comment