AM Coffee Thots
It’s an interesting split that we’ve come to embrace so ...enthusiastically as a nation. Those who shout loudest for “RED! you commie!” or BLUE!! you fascist!!"resemble those fellas ya see at ballgames with no more thought given to the basic issue than to the choice of “Steelers” “Yankees.” The two ‘sides’ are aren’t represented by platforms or ideologies; but by a coupla screaming, painted buffoons, reacting with knee-jerk predictability and an utter lack of thought.
Life is so easy for us that we take for granted the luxury of freaking out at the idea of causing an animal some pain; yet look blithely on as mass graves are dug up. We have so little pain in our lives that we freak out at the fffff-The actuality of a tyrannical despot is so far removed that some can call the US government ‘Orwellian’ and actually consider turning our backs on 25 million newly-freed people in their hour of need. Again.
It is the inconceivable cruelty of those whose world view is ignorant of Nature, red in tooth and claw, and of what is required for a human to be successful in that real world. The expectation is that the Safeway will always be stocked—from whence we care not—and the lattes will always flow and I can say any damfool thing I want—even call our President ‘Hitler’—since, after all, this is a free country.
Maybe a big *BOOM*—something a tad more disruptive and personal than even 9/11—is what it will take to reacquaint the pee-pole with The Basics. We’re not so far from ‘the olden days’ as some would believe. It was only 60 or 70 years ago that most people in The Country™ had no electricity. I remember we got ours from the REA—the Rural Electrification Administration. My grandmother began her life by gaslight—in downtown Chicago—and lived to see Americans walk on the Moon.
Folks get so confused by the DVR, the cellfones and the Blackberrys they forget we’re not so far away from laudanum, the hand saw and the kitchen ax. And the ‘failure of imagination’ extends to how easily we can be thrust back to the daily need for such things. Those of us who survive the first few months....
Soo...what are you doing/have done to prepare for that possibility?
Posted by Desert Cat on 02/23/06 at 07:52 PMI’m learning to garden [yes - *some* of us hafta work at this...], then learning how to get rid of voles/moles/ground squirrels. [other than sitting in the rocking chair in my overalls with a .17 on my lap… I got no patience *sigh]
Working on the water system, planning to get a coupla mustangs [the kind with hooves] I shoot pretty well, working on the ...collection.
Next—getting offa the grid. That’s a challenge.
And collecting folks with particular skills. Can’t do that life alone/in just the nucledar family. Working on creating the extended family.
And you?
Posted by Claire on 02/24/06 at 08:06 AMCoolness. A lot of people talk but don’t do much.
I’m in the process of selling some in-town property to purchase a parcel way out in the country with a well (the #1 challenge where I am is water.) Gathering info and planning the construction and operation of the country retreat. Honing my skills at the range, working toward my CCW. Someone else in the family is a skilled gardener and is info hounding for food production alternatives, so we’re covered there. I’m behind in my plans for stocking emergency food supplies though. And there is survival equipment I want to buy that I haven’t yet.
Re the grid, I’m taking a minimalist approach. I’m not going to try to match the capacity of our “on grid” usage with alternate sources. I figure there will be certain adjustments that will be made if grid power goes away. As long as grid energy is online, it is more efficient to continue using it, which saves resources for other measures.
Posted by Desert Cat on 02/24/06 at 10:07 AMAaaah, The Country™—the oooonly place to be. Water—water that you control yourself—is key. Here in the West, we know that whiskey is for drinkin’; Water is for fightin’ over.
As to the grid—your point is well taken. Yet I do not want to give up refrigerated foods and/or communication devices. I’m sure some geniuses will come up with an alternative Lovely Interweb even if The Big One hits—we’re all too addicted to let that go. Ham radio might be a good investment of time and resources…
Yanno who has done a lot of ressearch on this? The Mormons. Might be some useful info to be googled there, too....
And as RAH pointed out—the new gold would be antibiotics and birth control.
Speaking of fiction, didja happen to read David Brin’s The Postman?
Posted by Claire on 02/24/06 at 09:55 PMI’m thinking a kerosene refrigerator is a possibility. Otherwise enough solar to keep the fridge and a few other essentials going.
Mormons definitely have a few clues on this topic. I’m not totally comfortable living in close with their community, but having them in various communities around the area is a comfort. At least *they* won’t likely be rioting in the streets.
I’ve never read that book. What’s it about?
Posted by Desert Cat on 02/24/06 at 10:51 PM
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