We endured years of criminal negligence in the highest political offices. Along came Barack Obama who promised us 'Change we can believe in'. We believed in it. He didn't deliver it. Any of it. Nothing. So people are going back to exactly what he said they were. God and guns. And the chances are pretty good that the Demoncrats are going to lose congress to the Repugnicans. The only reason that's bad is that neither of them should exist - they have all been corrupted. It really doesn't matter which brand of corruption you choose because you really aren't choosing one ideology over another. Corrupt is corrupt. So what is the plan for the millions of us who don't want to play this game? There isn't an easy answer. We can't opt out or we will be put out on the (remaining) ice for polar bears to eat. We have to play if we want to be the eater instead of the eatee. If we are clever though, we can pick our game and get the others to play it on our terms. We need to consider what will happen if society breaks down and why it might break down. Almost the only reason is food. Millions of people have lost their jobs and homes and still go meekly on their way - as long as they have enough to eat. We can lose our fortunes to Big Bank shenanigans and still blame ourselves -as long as we have enough to eat. I strongly suspect that America will sit still while Social Security is first cut and then eliminated along with the middle class - as long as there is enough to eat. But the very day...24 hours...after food becomes scarce, society will fail completely. That could happen for any number of causes and at least several of them are happening as we speak. First, the economy can fail instantly and utterly. Second, the power grid can fail beyond repair - through an extraterrestrial modality or because someone popped a 1.3 megaton nuke 400 miles above Kansas. Either way is as probable as the other - and either would destroy every electrical grid, electronic device and motor vehicle in the continental US, Canada and Mexico instantly and permanently. End of story. Less intense but more likely, the climate is going to make weather unpredictable and crops will fail on large scales. Wheat and corn in particular, but every crop. and then every animal which depends on them. The economy may prevent us from importing all of the food we need...and in fact are still exporting, mainly to China. Alternating floods and drought, as we are now seeing worldwide, will make our freshwater supply unreliable and further erode our agricultural infrastructure as well as making our huge population centers untenable. In months or years - not over decades or centuries. When Southern California runs out of water, there is nowhere for people to go. If an (overdue) earthquake happens to liquefy the soil in the fertile valleys of California, the food and water supply will stop instantly. That won't be good. It will make New Orleans after Katrina look like a Disney ride. So to prepare we need to be able to manage four things (1) Our immediate vicinity and the approaches to it. (2) Our food and water supply (3) Our ability to negotiate and barter fairly for our group (4) Knowledge, superstition, propaganda and religion. There are sub-categories of course. For example: Control of our immediate vicinity is not merely security from predators (human or animal). It includes teaching and enforcing (ideally through teaching personal responsibility and the application of peer pressure) a multitude of things most people never think of. Hygiene and sanitation without flush toilets. How to deal with the death of a loved one and how to dispose of the body. How to make soap and candles, how to cook food outdoors in any weather - how to make fire. How to sharpen a knife, collect and dry wood, make charcoal, prevent sunburn, be a psychologist and a seer. How to conserve and use everything to it's fullest potential. How to deal with a plague or a rampant disease. In order to manage something, we must know more it than anyone else or we have no value except as brute labor. I am too old to be a laborer - yet I cannot sit under a palm tree and expect adoring disciples to cater to my needs. I must be so valuable to my community that the thought of living without my guidance evokes discomfort. I must have considered every possibility and be ready to provide sensible, logical, practical and successful advice about any subject and I must realize that no one will ask until the need becomes critical and immediate and have an answer ready. I cannot do that - no one can. But understanding what may be required allows us to prepare our minds. Understanding that we cannot prepare for everything is the first step. Not telling anyone we can't is the second. A lot of preconceptions will be proven wrong. I hope my dire predictions never come to pass. However, if I do not consider what is required to live at a basic level of subsistence I have already failed. Because I cannot know how bad it may get, I must assume it will get as bad as I can imagine. Thus I am prepared to start from nothing and everything I can count above that level on any given day is a bonus and makes life that much easier. So I can expect that from a material and technological standpoint, every day my group stays alive and smiles will be a better day than the last and I can pass on that optimism. Rest assured, however, that I shall make it a point to lead a pledge of allegiance and prayers every day. If people want worship services, I will do that as well. I am subservient to the needs of the community - not the community to my needs. The nicest cuts, the kindest word and the honor of achievement must always go to the individual who deserves it on that day and everyone will have their day. The secret is not to be honored. It is becoming the person who decides who deserves the honor and presenting it to them The most valuable possession and the one thing which no one can take by force is knowledge. I don't care who the chief is as long as they come to me for advice. Chiefs may change but no one will ever fight for my job.
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