the alternative

THE ALTERNATIVE


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Today was finally a great doom and gloom day on the interweb. Specifically, over at Survival Acres ( writing this on Wednesday- I actually have started using my inability to be connected 24/7 as a point of pride, not being as addicted to the e-tit as most folks. I still miss instant updates to the faked news and non-events, but I am weaning myself a bit from that ) when he was reprinting and commenting on other doomsters dropping out of this game. While I think Survival Acres has a few weak points ( hey, don’t we all in our survival philosophy ) such as freeze dried foods as a business and his “Gaia is dying, ice is melting, we’ll all going to die!” shtick, which in itself wouldn’t be bad if he didn’t also insist on gardening- hello! If the weather is changing that much, growing your own is going to be very problematic- as much a panacea, all in all he is one of the few authors out there that is refreshingly scared enough to earn my coveted Bison Medal Of Paranoia. Anyway, a Canadian site had folded up shop and ceased trying to warn folks. It is a wearying endeavor, but it isn’t totally for naught. I’ve had folks thank me for my drivel awakening them from a squalid Yuppie Scum existence. Not a lot, granted. But I only have about 1/30th of the survivalist movements ear. As most are Happy Campers, we don’t see eye to eye. No sweat off my testicle sack, I’d rather not try to help evolutionary dead ends. The minions that stick with me are welcomed and special. Especially screwed up, but I’m sure a few are normal that show up for the theatre. I’ve also been personally helped by others trying to warn folks. I used to be one of those idiots that thought a years supply of food would see us out of trouble. Now I know that the troubles will last for centuries, an education courtesy of the Peak Oil folks. Hell, even the slow collapse reality deniers have had something to contribute. So, yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause ( the illusive reader that actually not only hears you, they listen ).

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But, as a minion just commented on the stair steppers article, what exactly is the alternative? Even if you are a believer in the worst, and actively take steps to protect yourself, it still doesn’t matter because it won’t be enough. You are still chained to our present system. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a repeat of an earlier ( I think about four or six months ago ) article where I was seriously skeert and wanted to run away into the hills and seriously be a hermit. It is a bit strange, because now that the child support burden is lifted, I COULD do that if I really wanted to. I would no longer have to worry about Johnny Law tracking me down when I went into arrears. For the first time in my life, I haven’t anything totally stressing me out and forcing me to wish for escape. I think I was just stressed, back when I wrote that article, that there was no wife hanging around making me less miserable. No, now I just ask myself ( after being brought up by said minion ), in a fit of confusion, what now? It seems the only alternative is either to totally escape, or give in to the inevitable fight with the masses coming soon. Even if you are somewhat out of the way, ten miles from town on a great farm, you know eventually they will find you. Too many asshats crowded together everywhere. What irritates me about this conundrum is that, to a certain extent, we are forced to act just like the idiots we make fun of, and close our minds to certain dangers. Because we are social animals we need to interact with other idiots. There is always danger in that. But even if we can do away with most human interaction, there is still danger.

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Say you become a hermit. All good and well but then, you must go grocery shopping and get your mail. If you are camped out in the mountains, have 90% of your food, and have gold saved up to pay property taxes, there is still a need to see other people. The Idaho hermit from the Depression might have lived alone all year long, but still needed to come to town once a year to buy iodine and matches and a few other things unavailable to him. And this was a guy that made his own blackpowder guns by smelting his own iron ore! You simply can’t avoid other people. You become vulnerable less often, but you can’t protect yourself totally. And, really, most of us are simply not wired to live alone. Then, perhaps an alternative might be to get a group together? Fraught with peril, but doable if you avoid the need for a Messiah to lead and keep separate lots for individual ownership to avoid “the tragedy of the commons”. IF you can find enough folks to band together. Hell, I can’t get anyone to move out to the Elko area, even with $2k land and one of the better performing local economies around. I think a bit of that is no one wants to live without a garden or trees, or live in this kind of cold without firewood, but mostly it is because folks don’t want to get too near me thinking I might be contagious in my mental condition. It simply is near impossible to find like minded folks that share your idea of paradise. Even if they all agreed, what is the likelihood that they could all earn a living out in the boonies? No, the group is almost impossible. For all practical purposes, there really is no alternative but to stay on the sinking ship. Some of us think we have a better answer, hanging out near a lifeboat, but even when you are the first one onboard you still have to share the space with other, unprepared passengers that just got there by luck or deceit. Your luck, your fellow passenger was the guy that knocked over an old lady to get the space on the boat. Then, he follows you to your stash ashore.

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This subject, our vulnerability even after preps, has been on my mind a lot, off and on. If anyone has a better alternative, I’d love to hear about it.

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