BASIC PREPARATION

It would seem that folks are reading survival blogs but are not paying any attention to the main points of staying alive.

The first thing I would point out to many who are in the valley of decision is the easy to understand principle of group survival being far more efficient than individual survival. Growing a big supply of food takes people. Pulling meaningful security takes people. Building housing takes people. So get people!

You need to start getting your survival group together as soon as possible. It can be family or close friends or maybe even a club or group that is interested in staying alive when things get bad. To get this group together you first must talk on the subject to anyone and everyone. And I am not talkin about a political speech or something like that. I am talking about someone who is quiely testing the waters with anyone he meets. When you find a kindred soul then make a note of that person and remember to stay in contact with them.

Try to get a group of 50 to 100 people. You are looking for regular working people and not a bunch of low lifes. You want people with families, if possible. You want people who can contribute to the group as a whole. Because once you have the people then you move out of town. You sell whatever you own and you throw the money into the main pot and you buy the place you wish to use for your village.

And that will sound crazy to most Americans. And that is okay. I don't want to be counted among the "sane" who have allowed this country to deteriorate anyhow. I want my friends whom I have known for years to make it.

I am sorry but I cannot see living in the Western United States. Forest fires are a drag. Huge distances are a drag. There are plenty of places in the rough hills of the East where a people might survive. And I have seen all the population maps and the satellite pictures of the lights and all that stuff. We have more springs and more deer that we can drink and shoot. Water is abundant in these hills. Clean pure water. And while the cropland is sorta scarce there is plenty of room for big gardens and plenty of ground for grazing and growing hay. You just have to make do with smaller fields. And it can be done.

Once you and your group have made the change from the population places to the more rural and isolated countryside you can start figuring out how to make a living. We went with a sawmill operation and became the biggest hardwood mill in the state. It started small but I am here to tell you that it grew. It HAD to grow. We had 350 to 400 acres when I came in the early years. But we prospered and used our brains and we now have almost 3000 acres. I am thankful to God for his bounty.

We are a mature group of people. This settlement is 42 years old and we own it and live on it. I can relate to preppers who talk about living on their retreat. We know this place like the back of our hand. Us grown men and now our sons have hunted every nook and cranny on the place. We know how to track the deer and catch the fish. We know the places where the squirrels nest and breed. Not too many rabbits down here because Brer Fox keeps their population down. The rabbits go away and so do the foxes. The rabbits come roaring back in numbers and the foxes return. It's a cycle, as is most things in nature. It's called Mother Nature, not Father Nature. There is Wisdom in knowing that.

Our retreat is isolated because the man who started it had the wisdom to know that nothing could be started fresh and new in a town or a city. The towns and cities had an already establishend pattern of behavior that we did not want in our lives. We did not want a crack dealer or a gay bar or a church in our settlement. We wanted things to be as natural and uncontaminatd as possible. We wanted to see how God raised a people, not how the mind of man would do it. And what the hell, we already knew how man would do it. And who needs more of that?

The land is all paid for and there is no mortgage. We have to pay property taxes but the sharecropper makes that much and we don't feel it. Anyone who is not retired has to pay $10 a week toward our shared expenses. Kids and retirees are exempt. You can work anywhere you wish or can get a job. We have people going out to teach in schools and work in hospitals and all sorts of places. And we have people with their own businesses. You can do what ever you wish! You can make a living however it works for you. You pay your own electric bill and your own phone and internet bill. And if you don't want those things then don't have them. There are no zoning laws in our settlement. It is the freest place in America.

Some words came to me this weekend. "Look around and see what needs to be done and go do it." Now how is this for governmental leadership? If you want it or it needs to be done then go do it! Things sort of reach a point of equalibrium with a position like this. There is no complaining about government. You do it yourself. This is freedom! Freedom from bitching and whining. Freedom of action. You like this? Go do it. If it is the mind of God, he will bless it. God honors his own mind.

After you get a settlement then you can start your preps. You can put in your gardens and your septic and your water systems. We have several wells here in the valley and those on one will pay about $20 every three months for their water. Not a bad water bill. Not bad at all. If you want to pack your water from a spring you are allowed to do so and would be exempt from a water bill. Freedom. An idea you can put into practice. Will it work? Show me. Our garden is watered by a big spring that gives us free water for our plants.

After the initial pains of TEOTWAKAKI things will get back to normal, or normal for the times at least. Life will be for the living of it. You will always need some security but maybe not as much after things settle down. You will always grow food but the ground wil be easier to work after a while. You will turn to arts and trades. You will turn to making clothes and foorwear. You will turn to building with stone. You will learn how to make cement. There will be buildings and shops and schools and all sorts of things for people to do. You will have babies and weddings and funerals and other things that join a people. You will have people develop into healers. You will have people develop into horse breeders and trainers. Some people will want to make wagons and tools for the horses to pull.

I can remember a man named Herschel who came every year and plowed my parents garden. And that was 60 years ago. It was cheap. Very few dollars. But he did a world of gardens in one day. His horses knew what to do and went right to it. I would say they got an extra ration of feed on days they did gardens. And it was a wonderful life. A very small town with a heavy agriculture surrounding. The older kids could get around on their bikes like you wouldn't believe. And they knew every fishin' hole and swimmin' hole around. And all the adults knew whose kid belonged to whom and watched out for them. The adults sorta became a Supermom and Superdad to all the kids. Worked out pretty well, too. You can take a tightly knit group of people and they can become your colllective Father and Mother. All children should be blessed by this as they will be watched from dawn until dusk by people that care.

There will be wars and rumors of wars for a long time in the future. The fixing of lifes problems in your area will not heal the whole world. It will be a more gradual transition. But it WILL get done. Never forget that. This converting the world to peace and good will not happen overnight. Vigilant and dilligant men and women will have to keep a sharp eye out for trouble. Never drop your guard. Eternal security means eternal vigilence.