If No Man is an Island, What're you Doing in a Bunker?

OK, Awesome Survivalist Preppers- Where do the following phrases come from? One ya'll live by, and one ya'll despise.

"God helps those who help themselves."

If you said, "the Bible" you are absolutely positively WRONG. According to Wikipedia-

"The phrase originated in ancient Greece and may originally have been proverbial. It is illustrated by two of Aesop's Fables and a similar sentiment is found in ancient Greek drama. Although it has been commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the modern English wording appears earlier in Algernon Sidney's work.
The phrase is often mistaken as scriptural, but it appears nowhere in the Bible. Some Christians have criticized the expression as being contrary to the Bible's message of God's grace. A variant of the phrase, however, can be found in the Quran (13:11)."

So there ya go- you're following something that originated with the ancient Greeks, and is not even in the bible, although it IS in the Q'uran. How awesome is that?

How about this one-

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"

Easy, right? That's from that bastard destroyer of all things humanly good, Karl Marx.

Well, sort of. Although it is part of his writings and ideology, he didn't start it.

Even that known Middle Eastern Socialist Jesus Christ didn't start it. It starts in Old Testament Leviticus- the same place it says being gay is an abomination (along with eating shellfish, shaving your beard and getting a tattoo...even one that's a bible verse like this one)-



According to www.theologyofwork.org, this goes way way back to a little thing called "Jubilee", which pretty much leveled the playing field for everyone every so often, BY LAW.

"There is continuing debate about whether or not these community summaries advocate a certain economic system, with some commentators describing the practice of the community as “proto-communism” and others seeing a mandatory divestiture of goods. The text, however, does not suggest an attempt to change the structures beyond the Christian community. Indeed, it would be difficult to think of a small, marginalized, socially powerless group having designs on changing the imperial economic system. It is clear that the community did not fully opt out of the systems of economics within the empire. Likely, fishermen remained members of fishing cartels and artisans continued to do business in the market.[1] Paul, after all, continued making tents to support his missionary travels (Acts 18:3).

Rather, the text suggests something far more demanding. In the earliest church, people of means and power liquidated their goods for the sake of the less powerful “from time to time” (Acts 4:34) as anyone “had need” (Acts 2:45; 4.35). This describes a kind of radical availability as the normal status of each person’s possessions. That is, the resources—material, political, social, or practical—of any member of the community were put at the constant disposal of the Christian community, even while individual members continued to oversee their particular resources. Rather than systematically prescribing the distribution of wealth in such a way as to ensure flat equality, the earliest church accepted the reality of economic disequilibrium, but practiced a radical generosity whereby goods properly existed for the benefit of the whole, not the individual. This form of generosity is, in many ways, more challenging than a rigid system of rules. It calls for ongoing responsiveness, mutual involvement in the lives of community members, and a continual willingness to hold possessions loosely, valuing the relationships within the community more than the (false) security of possessions.[2]

It is highly likely that this system within a system was inspired by the economic ideals expressed in Israel’s law, climaxing with the practice of Jubilee—the once-in-50-years redistribution of land and wealth within Israel (Leviticus 25:1-55). Jubilee was designed by God to ensure that all people had access to the means of making a living, an ideal that appears never to have been widely practiced by God’s people. Jesus, however, introduces his ministry with a set of texts from Isaiah 61 and 58 that produce a great many Jubilee themes.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18–19)

Jubilee ethic is further alluded to in Acts 4:34, where Luke tells us “there were no needy persons among them.” This appears to be a direct echo of Deuteronomy 15:4, where the practice of the Sabbath year (a mini-Jubilee occurring once every seven years) is designed to ensure that “there should be no poor among you.”

It is fitting that the Christian community would see this as a model for their economic life. But whereas in ancient Israel, the Sabbath year and the Jubilee were to be practiced only every seven and fifty years, respectively, radical availability marked the resources of the early Christian community. One can almost hear a Sermon on the Mount-like heightening of the Jubilee practice. “You have heard that it was said of old, ‘Give back your land to those who are landless once every fifty years,’ but I say to you, ‘Make your power and resources available any time you see the need.’” Radical generosity based on the needs of others becomes the basis of economic practice in the Christian community. We will explore this in depth through the incidents in the book of Acts.

The practices of the early churches challenge contemporary Christians to think imaginatively about models for radical generosity today. How could radical availability stand as a witness to the kingdom of God and form a plausible alternative way of structuring human life in a culture marked by the tenacious pursuit of personal wealth and security?"

How could modern day Americans, Christian or not, follow the admittedly awesome teachings of Jesus in regards to caring for people who are not...you or your immediate family?

Well, here in America we have a little thing called 'taxes'. Taxes are the price we pay to live in a civil society. Taxes pay for the schools most of the kids go to, the libraries we can use, the roads we all drive on, the police and firemen and even the meter readers. All the stuff that keeps a modern society running in a modern and mostly smooth manner.

In addition to that, we have the non-tangibles. The Social Safety Net. That place that is (or should be) there to catch us if something happens- accident, illness, homelessness, joblessness, old age...and will carry us through those hard times- not just to barely scrape by them with our fingernails on the edge of the Cliffs of Despair, but to offer dignity and support because whether we like to admit it or not, we're all human and shit can and will go wrong with every one of us.

It's that whole 'part of a civil society' thing.

Fine. So what's my damn point?

My damn point is this- There is a huge, growing and I'm afraid terminal divide between "Survivalist Preppers" and "Sustainable Preppers".

Survivalist Preppers are raring (almost Rapturishly eagerly) to go- they're ready. They've got their bunkers and their MRE's and their water purifiers and their guns...their massive supply of guns and ammo. They are ready for the end of the world because by GAWD they will make sure that their nuclear (pun intended) family will survive IN SPITE Of anyone else. They are driven by fear.

Don't give me any shit. You know you are, deep down inside- down below all the bluster and jokes about, "Gee Mr. Smith, you have 100 guns and 500,000 rounds of ammo- what are you so afraid of?" Answer- "Not a damn thing". Har. Har. Har. But you are- you are deathly afraid of being in a position of needing anyone else.

The problem is, you can't do it yourself. History shows that the people who work together survive, and not the sort of working together where as long as you 'are fit enough to help and have the resources to contribute to the community' you are welcome, but if you've got nothing to offer you're out in the cold.

The INclusive kind of community, not the EXclusive kind.

Sustainable Preppers see the same things coming you do. I promise you we do.

So why are we so stupid? Why do we fight and strive for the rights of people we don't even know and who could do nothing for us in return? People who probably don't 'deserve' anything because they're probably lazy and spoiled and would spit on us as soon as help us?

First of all, please don't be so hard on yourselves. Admitting your flaws is the first step to getting over them.

Second of all, because it's the right thing to do. To care for everyone, not just people like us or who have 'proven' themselves according to some imaginary measuring stick.

Because YOUR Jesus commands us to.

We share our knowledge and our food, knowing that the more people who know this stuff, the better off we'll ALL be.

Remember the Native Americans? Those guys you have plastered on your T-shirts and claim to revere? They knew that we are all intertwined and if one of us falls, it's bad energy for the rest. And they're not just talking about people here- every life on the planet depends on the others.

Nothing exists in a vacuum for very long- why the hell do you think you can close the hatch of your bunker and come out even remotely OK?

Which brings us back to this- In our society we have something called taxes.Our own "Jubilee" can be to willingly and joyfully pay taxes so that everyone has access to education, and food, and shelter, and health care. Everyone. That's our goal that ya'll fight us against tooth and nail- everyone who says this Nation was founded on Christian values. Think about that for a second.

Time is short. Big shit is going to happen. Not 'someday', but in our lifetimes.

Now is not the time to 'go to ground', it's the time to go to the streets, meet your neighbors, share knowledge and food, laughter and humanity. We're all in this together whether you like to think so or not.

Why are us Hippie Peacenik types so pissed off? Because you're wasting precious time being fucking selfish, that's why.

Because if shit goes down and you show up at my door hungry and homeless, chances are I'll let you in and feed you. Do not ever take that to mean I'm weak, or that you can just walk over my family to take our stuff and go on. Ever. Because you will make excellent compost, and I'm not kidding.

What if my family shows up at your door? Will we be dead before we can knock and you even know our intentions or what we may have to offer you? I thought so.

That's the mindset that will end civilization not even as we know it, but as it could be.

Stop being so damn afraid of living that the highest you can reach for is mere survival.

Back awhile Joe purchased some freeze dried food for storage. I was talking to his mom about it. His mom is 94 and lived through the Depression in rural Oklahoma. Serious poverty. She asked what kind of food he bought and I said among other things, there was a case of freeze dried brocolli.

Edna thought on that a few minutes and then said, "If it gets so bad that all we have to eat is freeze-dried brocolli, it's just time to die".

Amen, Edna. Amen.

Wasting My Time

A while back I opined that the only way I would ever sell any quantity of books would be to write a survivalist, vampire, Christian romance, murder mystery, on accounta that's the stuff what's selling better than hotcakes on a cold morning.

So I've started.

And it's hard, because I'm wired for the Short Story. It's a good exercise for me and it's actually getting easier as I go.

The problem is that in the back of my head is that tiny, annoying little voice whispering, "You know- no one will buy this one...either".

Not because it's not a good story- I'm actually pretty psyched about it.

Not because it's difficult to read due to grammatical and spelling errors, because I'm pretty anal about all that mess.

But because when I stop to think about it, generally nudged to do so by other people who say, "Yanno..." there just doesn't seem to be a market for stories like mine.

I can't write gun porn. I just can't.

I can't write doomsday rape-the-dogs-eat-the-babies stories. I just can't.

I write from my heart, and my heart tells me that even though I've personally seen and experienced some pretty bad things in my life so I know damn well that bad things happen generally for no good reason, that the world and people in the great majority are good.

And I understand when I hear people say when things get really tough for whatever reason in the face and middle of a societal breakdown that good people have the capability of doing bad things in the name of "survival".

I also (sort of) see that there is a (tiny) segment of society that will behave in willfully awful ways if there is a lack of things like law enforcement and jails- things that keep them honest just by the threat of punishment. Although I think if things get THAT bad they'll be just as homeless and hungry as everyone else and will probably be busy finding, ummm...food.

But truly?

People are just as likely to behave in a spectacularly courageous manner when plopped into the center of chaos and disaster.

It happens all the time.

So what the hell?

Why the absolute craze for books that glorify the awful side of humanity, that idolize the very violence that tears apart families, communities and societies every single day?

Why the assumption, nay the hope- that "the end of the world as we know it" will be one big fat hairy shoot 'em up?

When something bad happens on a big scale, like a hurricane or tornado or whatnot, there is sometimes a small amount of lawlessness. IN GENERAL, people work together, help each other, do what they can for each other.

When I try to point this out, all I get is "NUH UH! BECAUSE KATRINA!"

Meaning of course, the disastrous episode wherein a horrific amount of people were all squished into the astrodome and all hell broke loose. Something about overcrowding, not enough food, or water, or toilets, or toilet paper. Also the mayhem outside the astrodome which was bad guys and/or the law enforcement- it's sometimes difficult to tell in NOLA.

"People are animals!"

Well, duh.

Of course we are.

Therefore we act/react the same as any other animal.

We have chickens.

Stay put- there's a direction I'm taking with this.

Most people keep their chickens literally cooped up- for their own safety and for ease of finding eggs.

They hate it.

No matter how large the enclosure, the chickens get nervous and aggressive and act in very anti-social ways. The roosters tear all the feathers out of the hens, the hens eat each others' eggs, the roosters fight and kill each other.

Compare that to our chickens, who have never seen a coop in their lives.

Do some get eaten by coyotes? Yep.

Do we have a helluva time finding eggs sometimes? Yep.

But.

Right now we have a ridiculous amount of roosters- 5 roosters and 8 hens. If they were cooped, they'd all be dead. Guaranteed.

Loose and left to make their own natural chicken decisions, they work out territories, and separate flocks, and respect boundaries, and all go into the barn and roost at night without issue.

The reason people in big snowstorms (every year) in the northlands and recently in Superstorm Sandy- people who were NOT herded into tiny enclosures and who could move as freely as possible, were out there helping each other and not going batshit crazy.

My point.

Is that when animals- poultry or people- are placed in stressful situations and allowed to work things out themselves, they pull together. When forced into even MORE stressful environs, they turn into sociopaths.

My point.

Is that while some sort of ginormous disaster could usher in a time of violence and destruction in only a way that clever humans can execute, it's just as likely to be

-initial confusion
-frustrated denial of not being able to go back to 'normal'
-re-organization and re-thinking shit
-carrying on

Seriously.

Now that's not a spoiler for my book. Because that's not all there is to it.

I'm just saying.

Is an actual happy ending so shoot-yourself-in-the-head boring that such a thing can never sell?

Is there really no interest at all in a future that doesn't include rivers of blood and the smell of napalm in the morning?

I mean, where ARE all the "liberal survivalist" novels?

Everything out there is written for the way far clinging to the very edge of the Right audience. And they're eating it up. Voraciously.

Which bothers me because they seem to WANT that to happen, they're PLANNING on it and they'll be HEARTBROKEN if they can't use up their 100,000 rounds of AK47 ammo on liberals and gays and "gang bangers" and illegals.

We're animals.

We gravitate towards a leader who nudges in a certain direction.

It bothers me that so many people are being nudged into the direction of violence. Are accepting it, embracing it and celebrating it. So if something DOES happen, how the hell do they THINK it's gonna go? And I'm sorry to tell 'em, but exactly .0000000001% of them would survive more than 24 hours in one of their fantasies.

I'd love for there to be SOMETHING out there that nudges in the other direction- something that says, "Yep. Some shit happened and we can't go back. Lets go forward...all of us and together".

Anyway.

I don't know when it'll be done, but I hope at least a few people buy it.

Or if you're looking for something to read right now, I've got a few other books already done. They can be found right here

<----------------------

Not because I write to make money, but because like it or not, the value of something is at least partially tied to dollars and cents coming in. And all I've ever wanted to be is an author.

Or a train engineer.

Whatever.

Spoiler Alert- The Real Winner Will Be...

Two days.

We're down to two days before the elections and the only thing I know for sure is who will be the real winners.

I know it because of what I hear people around me saying. Because of what I read, and what I see.

I know it because this country is so fragmented, so divided, so absolutely and completely exhausted from working so hard, for so little, for so long while being pummeled from all sides with the frenetic activity of an election season- a thing that may start out in fairness and nobility but that ends up inevitably like a street fight-

both combatants weary from an interminable slog of following the rules of civil engagement and finally ending up down on the ground, jabbing thumbs into eyes and biting each other in an effort to just be the last one conscious- all illusions of a fair conflict followed by an honorable victory ground into the dust they're rolling in at the end, spitting curses at each other.

I cannot remember a time when fear and Faith have played such a big role in elections- and it's the Faith that's fanning the fear- bringing God into the political process when the Founding Fathers made it very clear that God is cool if that's what you want to believe...but not to determine the laws of OUR land- because not everyone believes in the same god you do, or has the same moral codes.

But that does not make those different from you second-rate Americans who don't love this country as passionately as you do. And it for damn sure doesn't mean that those who have a different Faith than yours (or no Faith at all) do not deserve the exact same representation in the government as you do.

And it's that very vocal, very opinionated, very suspicious-of-all-things-secular-governmental group of people who will pick the REAL winners come Tuesday night.

"If Romney wins, there will be rioting in the streets- every black neighborhood in the country is going to explode into a firestorm of rage. Make sure you're prepared- with FOOD and WATER in case of power outages and with GUNS and AMMO, of course."

"If Obama wins, he will immediately enforce martial law- rounding up Christians and putting them into concentration camps. Make sure you're prepared- with FOOD and WATER to bring with you into your secret hideout where you can avoid persecution and with GUNS and AMMO, of course".

It's a fact that the sale of all survival supplies, but most of all GUNS and AMMO went through the roof after Obama was elected in '08.

See where this is going?

Come Tuesday night, we'll either have a President Romney or a President Obama.

But the REAL winners will be the sellers of survivalist crap and GUNS and AMMO- those bottom feeders who make their livings off of encouraging and exploiting the fear of people.

The NRA never had a better friend than Barack Obama.

...And They Were Sore Afraid

Remember that line from the Bible? I do.

When the poor shepherds were just minding their own business in the middle of the night and without warning BAM the skies lit up and the stars were replaced by an entire shitload multitude of heavenly angels all announcing the birth of the Baby Jesus.

Considering they weren't accustomed to such displays of ostentatiousness (this being before the Pope and all) they stared up at that mess...

...and they were sore afraid.

'Course it was all cool, because the head angel told 'em to "Fear not. For born this day in a manger, a Savior. That he who believes shall NOT perish, but have eternal Life".

(Strange that I can remember that, but can't find my car in the grocery store parking lot half the time.)

Anyhoo.

I know a lot of really Good Christians. Those who follow the teachings of Christ- caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, turning the other cheek, judging not lest...all that stuff. I personally think Jesus was a terrific role model, a good man and an excellent teacher.

So this isn't a Christian-bashing session.

This isn't even where I go off about those Poser Christians who justify terrible things in the name of Jesus.

This is just a question about being afraid.

Because many of today's Survivalists and Preppers are also devout Christians.

And that's OK.

And it's also OK to be frugal, and learn how to care for yourself and your family if you are suddenly poor, or without electricity for whatever reason. It's OK to stock up on food and paper goods and first aid sundries whether you foresee a collapse of civilization from zombies or politicians or banks or terrorists or zombies (I know, but I think that's hilarious, so I repeated it).

My question is- Why are so many of the Christian Survivalist/Preppers so darn afraid?

So clannish and suspicious and scurrying and running away without even knowing where they're going? Just "away". From the cities filled with crime and evil, the non-believers, the (for lack of a better word) Infidels.

They're terrified blind to everyone and everything around them- 99% of all of it a Gift and Wondrous.

God made a beautiful place- this Mother Earth.

Jesus called all humans his Brothers and Sisters and was kind, gentle and respectful towards everyone, not just "his" people.

I understand that they believe their rewards and peace and reunions will be in Heaven, and that's cool.

But THIS life and THIS place is also pretty cool, and it makes me sad- seriously "hurts my heart and makes me cry" sad- to see them so unhappy, so frantic, so worried.

Are bad things going to happen to the economy, to everyone's family? Is our future filled with uncertainty and change?

Absolutely.

Because that's part of this life. Always has been, always is, always will be.

Knowing that makes me want to see and do MORE- travel more, meet more people who are different than we are, see and absorb it all- as much as one tiny speck here for one tiny blink of Father Time can take in. It also makes me treasure those around me more- I MAKE time now- for each precious person I love- because I DON'T believe we'll have "plenty of time to catch up on things once we're all dead and in Heaven".

I left the Church behind, which was right for ME. It doesn't make me a bad person, an immoral person, an evil person. I'm not worried about getting into Heaven or being tossed into a fiery Hell, but that doesn't mean I just go out and do bad shit because I have no fear of punishment.

Respect for others makes me do good. Love for my family makes me do good. Reverence for our planet makes me do good.

I care about everyone. No matter their race, gender, social status, religion, sexual orientation, or even their truly unfortunately misguided political leanings.

Everyone is my Family and Earth is my Home.

I'd like to sit all the poor harried Christian Survivalists down and make them see that they ARE running out of time, but not the way they are terrified of.

God says he'll provide for His Children.

He sees every sparrow that falls, remember?

Have Faith.

Slow down. Enjoy this life and this world and the people around you. All are precious. All are fragile.

Take a deep breath and embrace who you are with and the place you are now- because all will change whether you DO something about it or not. Where you are supposed to be and who you are supposed to be with will show itself to you when the time is right- but you'll never see it through your worry and agitation.

Be not afraid.

Of Guns and Granola

One thing I know about Survivalists...they HATE Damn Hippies and Liberals- none of which have EVER had a good idea, EVER. They believe the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and they are busy little bees FIERCE ANGRY WARRIORS making preparations for it.

To look at Survivalist websites and blogs, you can clearly see that they are the authors and inventors of all sorts of innovations that will come in very handy once TSHTF (the shit hits the fan) and/or TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it).

Stocking up on food. That's really important. You can buy all sorts of pre-packaged MRE's (meals ready to eat) that are hermetically sealed and dated to infinity. OR, if you're really into it, you can buy SURVIVAL SEEDS- ziplocked and shrink-wrapped gardens ready to plant (sorry- no substitutions- if you don't like beets or brussel sprouts, or your climate doesn't GROW beets or brussel sprouts, get over it PansyAss).
There are dehydrators and canners and all sorts of ways to preserve your bounty in order to fill up your underground bunker with enough food for from here to eternity.

Funny. The back-to-the-landers have always advocated food independence and sustainability through keeping a well-stocked pantry (not MRE's- things like flour and beans and sugar and rice and spices- COOKING ingredients) and a garden- both for peace of mind and the health benefits inherent in cooking from scratch. Heritage seed banks have been around for years, preserving old time varieties and making sure they get into the proper dirt as far as climate and rainfall to further preserve them so the next generation can also save them and use them and pass them on.

Being able to run shit. If all your food isn't preserved, and you depend on freezers for food storage, being able to run shit is very important. Also things like electricity and water pumps and whatnot. There are a gabazillion generators to buy- everything from little ones to run power tools where there's not a socket to behemoths that will run the average 3,000 square foot, air conditioned, well-lit fortress once the Lights Go Out.

Weird. We're just a coupla old hippies, and even though we don't have any of the alternative energy sources like solar or wind or hydro, our house was built with redundant systems- we have both propane and wood heaters, enough lanterns to light well enough if the electric goes out, propane stove AND a wood cook stove and sawdust toilets/a Berkey water filter in case we can't use the well pump (our next big purchase- a hand pump to drop into the well casing...that we had them make big enough to do that when they dug the well). We're planning on getting some small alternative energy set up for running the freezers, but haven't decided yet what it will be- we dislike the idea of a battery bank.
And the house was built to take advantage of window placement and number and with big porches and high ceilings- no central a/c here, so no worries if it goes out.

Building Community. This is extremely important- mankind is a social species and we need communities for protection and general well-being. Even the survivalists are aware that those single-family (or single-person) enclaves up in the mountains or deep in the swamps are not really healthy, and even kinda disturbing. There are all sorts of Intentional Communities springing up- finding one whose members share your spiritual, political or societal beliefs is pretty easy- the infighting involved once inside can be brutal, but that's always the way no matter the group or ideology.

Most ALL of these survivalist groups LOVE their guns. Guns are more than tools to them, they are the very symbol of the American Way. They are currency, security, prestige, power. They even named their intentional communities after them-

"I belong to a *****MAG*****. (Mutual Assistance Group) We live together and help each other- everyone has strengths and weaknesses and being in a group we can better protect each other".

Very manly. Very dominant. But where have I heard of that sort of set-up before???

Oh yeah.

You're talking about a COMMUNE (smiley face inside a rainbow peace sign).

I'm really not disparaging the whole survivalist thing.

I do question the seemingly pervasive attitude of "keeping MY people safe in hard times and SCREW THE REST OF 'EM/Shoot first and let god sort 'em out". Quite the little (WARRIOR SURVIVOR) ants they are, aren't they?

Here's the thing.

What if a whole bunch of perceived grasshoppers are really sitting around playing music and sharing food because all their shit's already taken care of and they already know how to live- really live in ways that are sustainable and renewable and that don't fuck over the environment or other people to get there? That don't require huge expenditures and furtive hoarding but that rely on openness and sharing and education instead of secretive glaring at everyone who's not in their little clique.

Here's what I'M afraid of. Mortally and literally.

It ain't the starving zombie hordes that will stream out of the cities after a terrorist attack leaves the entire world in a crazed lawless shambles.

It ain't an EMP knocking out all power and communication causing mass panic and mayhem.

It's our country being slowly but surely turned into a theocracy where MY family could and would be tagged, detained and persecuted because we don't have a Church Home.

It's what would happen if the country DOES fall into bad worse times and those Survivalist MAG's run out of canned goods and sneak out of their compounds under cover of night to use their guns to take what they need for THEIR people...from MY people.

Somewhere between Survivalist armed to the teeth "There's more to the Constitution than the 2nd Amendment???" and mall crawler consumer "I don't DO politics- it's boring" is where we all need to be.

Somewhere outside of isolation, inside of real community where people are cared for because they're the same species as we are- not the same religion or race or economic level or have attained some bullshit plateau where they "earn the right" to basic human care.

Welcome to the party, Survivalists- now settle the hell down and have some homemade granola.

We've got this. We've had it for oh...about 50 years. Where the hell have YOU been?