If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I had planned to write a book, this last winter. Selling our old farm, and moving to our new one, threw a monkey wrench in that. Given the unfolding pandemic, and ensuing economic collapse of the industrial world, I wish I had had time to complete the book, as it will lay out an alternative to our current sociopolitical ills. In addition, it will offer solutions to the problems that plague us on all fronts. The working title of this book is “How to enjoy the end of the world”, and has been since last summer. Suffice it to say that our current situation is no surprise, to me. This is not some freak event. It was an inevitable eventuality, and merely one spike in a rolling crisis.
There are endless theories about the origin of this virus, government power grabs, and corruption in foreign governments and NGO’s. Though researching such things is wise, this is not my focus, here. I will note the Orwellian creepiness of social media censorship, however. Corporations are defining truth as google demonetizes pandemic content, and Facebook shames users for liking posts that do not fit the official narrative, and the mainstream media spins messaging to suit political aims. What I hope to do here is look as objectively as I can at where we are, and how things are likely to play out over the next year, and what you can do to better position yourself and your family for what is coming.
Pandemic response
In a crisis, people are easily influenced. They will submit to things that would otherwise be impossible to implement. Just as the 9/11 fear was used to cow Americans into allowing rent-a-cops to fondle their genitalia in order to fly, this crisis isn’t going to waste. The statewide cower-in-place orders we currently live under would have been unthinkable, not long ago. If you tried to float the theory that the governments within the United States would order every shitizen into house arrest, say a year ago, you would have been laughed at as a crackpot-tin-foil-hat-nut-job. Yet, here we are. Through the use of the Hegelian Dialectic (identify or create a problem, stoke a reaction, present a solution that serves broader ends) we have been manipulated into pressing pause on our lives. Every one of the hundreds of on going anti-government protests happening around the world were put down not with police action, but with a fear hammer. Hong Kong, Yellow Vests, Water Protectors, and more were instantly deflated.
As many of you know, I have one test for viability of a political solution to any problem. Does it require coercion? If not, I’m listening. If there is a gun required to implement your plan, you are wrong, every time. If it is a good idea, people will do it. The logic behind slowing the spread of this disease through personal protection, social distancing, and the like, are good ideas. The weight of a statewide policy to that effect may have been required to convince employers to allow their workers to stay home. Making it an “order”, however, is coercion. To empower even one ‘roided up cop with a thin blue line Punisher skull sticker on his lifted truck to stop, ticket, or even arrest a person for just being out of their home, is the end of America. The concepts fought and died for in the late 1700’s are over. Is it unwise to expose yourself and your house mates to the risk of a disease (that could be lethal) by going about your life as usual? Possibly. We are laying low and taking sensible precautions, ourselves. Can the government order you to do that? Not in this country.
This comes down to an important distinction. Does your government serve you, or do they think they own you? If they serve you, they will inform, advise, and assist you. If they believe they own you, they tell you to you may not assemble, or worship as you see fit, and deprive you of your livelihood, at gun point. Sweden is taking a voluntary approach to this pandemic. Whether they have higher morbidity than more draconian countries, or not, they are doing the right thing.
Is the cure worse? It’s hard to know. The models of spread rates, death totals, and resource needs are like all other models. Virtually useless. Just as climate models from 15 years ago have nothing to do with what has actually happened, the pandemic models predicted disasters orders of magnitude above what is actually happening. If viewed statistically, had we done nothing to prevent the spread, 1.5 million people might have died. But, the nation would have herd immunity within a matter of two months. If viewed individually, your grandma is going to die because you’re selfish. This is the fear being used for control. So, what is the cost of the cure?
Economic cost and aftermath
As mentioned in my previous post, the cost to small businesses (already struggling to exist in a climate of corporate crony capitalism, and rigged markets) will be all but annihilated by the shutdown. Consider a service business like a nail saloon. The shop employs 20 people. They each make a low wage, and may be supporting a household of eight people. We can already see that federal response to keep such businesses afloat has failed. The shop owners landlord will evict them for not paying rent. The workers will be evicted from their homes. Each shop closure will leave potentially 180 people on the street, destitute. How many nail saloons are there where you live? How many restaurants, bars, coffee shops, barbers, bookstores, gift shops, florists, caterers, theaters, and clothing stores?
Politicians talk of “restarting” the economy. They can’t. They can get their blood caked boots off our necks, but they cannot print, loan, or bailout an economic recovery. Oh, the banks will be fine, for a while, as will the sorts of businesses which can afford lobbyists and fat campaign contributions. Entrepreneurial enterprise is going to take a serious bath, though. Everything the government tries to do to save the economy comes at a heavy cost, too. Even if they pump trillions into the economy, that just kicks the can down to our children. If interest rates climb, even slightly, the debt service becomes impossible to maintain.
Before this pandemic, homelessness was spiking, as more and more people gave up playing the stupid game presented to them. On the other side of all of this, their ranks will explode. Along with this, a season of famine is likely. Farmers, already struggling from bad policy, debt, corporate greed, and globalized food markets will fail at alarming rates. Seasonal workers will arrive in lower numbers, and require higher pay. Price spikes and scarcity will leave the unemployed and newly homeless (30 million?) starving.
People are weird, anyway. Once they are desperate, they become dangerous. “Social order” will largely breakdown. Heavy handed government control perverts will crack heads to attempt to cling to power, as the angry mob starts breaking windows and burning cars in the street.
Government response in the aftermath
There are plans being floated for all manner of horrific, unacceptable social controls in the wake of this disaster. Talk of digital “passports” on cell phones to control and monitor movement of every citizen has begun. Social distancing bracelets that sound an alarm, if a group becomes too large, have been suggested and are being used by Ford on the factor floor. Digital currency which would only allow the compliant to participate in the economy has, as well. If you are dependent on government aid to buy food, and that “benefit” requires you to have a digital wallet and a tracking app on your phone, are you free? How about an RFID chip implant to verify that you have been vaccinated? That’s what Bill Gates wants. Having the vast majority of the population utterly dependent on the government is a wet dream for control perverts. The dawn of the crypto-stasi is upon us.
Populous response
Already, some people are resisting the power grab. Militia are showing up on statehouse steps, packing heat. Protests will intensify the longer the lock down continues. They will get worse, after the damage to economy becomes apparent. I predict that “contagion hot spots” will flare up anywhere there is political unrest. Social distancing orders will be imposed to prevent riotous mobs. And if the people refuse to comply, will we see detention camps for American citizens? I would not be surprised, given what we have seen, thus far. I would also not be surprised to see the kind of people who call the police to report their neighbors playing tee ball with their children, and not maintaining social distance (yes, this happened), drug through the street and lynched. We are going to find out if the American character is exceptional, or if we will go down like populations imprisoned by socialism have. Will we turn on each other like the soviets, or the Germans under National Socialism, or the Venezuelans? Or, will we reject tyranny? The choice is not comply or die, though it has been framed as such. Will we reject fear, and act in love? I certainly hope so.
How to position yourself
I realize that I have painted a bleak picture, here. I do so to inspire you to examine your boundaries, not to inspire fear. Where are your lines? History is resplendent with tales of caution, and precedents of times like this. At what point, in the rise of the Third Reich, would you have drawn your line in the sand? What will you accept, now? How far is too far? Tyranny creeps, ever pushing back freedoms, for greater control. If you have no food, will you get on the train willingly, for the promise of a meal? Are your neighbors likely to come to your aide, or are they boot licking rats? Do you have a plan, should your neighborhood become dangerous? When do you resist, and how? More importantly, what can you do to minimize your exposure to threat both political, and actual?
Community
Community is tantamount. Who, of everyone you know, is competent and skilled? Who thinks clearly, under pressure? Who can make things? Strengthen your bonds to those people. Give of your time to learn new skills. Use barter and gifting to develop micro economies and affinity groups. Find ways to help others. Talk about ethos. What is valued? What is intolerable? The closer your ethical position, the stronger your community. Gather often, at whatever distance seems sensible. Discuss child care, entertainment, and education within your group. Share tools. Build things, together.
Food
How is your food shed? Do you rely on semi trucks to restock grocery stores and Amazon warehouses in order to eat? It is time to rethink that. Do you know any farmers who grow without off-farm inputs? By this I mean those who can continue to produce calories, even if there is no seed, fertilizer, or pesticide available. Do you grow any of your food? Do you have seeds? Did the Governor of Michigan forbid the sale of seeds as “non-essential”? Practically. She ordered the garden centers of big box stores roped off, and nurseries closed. That’s where they keep the seeds. To her, your ability to grow your own food is “non-essential”. Maybe that’s why there are people with AR-15s on the state house steps. How are your food preservation skills? Do you know how to slaughter and butcher an animal, bake a loaf of bread, and cook on an open fire?
Location
I live in the country. My whole county only has 30,000 people in it. The local government is much more directly accountable to the residents than in population centers. If the sheriff were to try to impose something stupid, we’d tell him to get bent. There isn’t a militarized tactical force poised to suppress unrest, out here. It might be a good time to reassess the value of living in a city, if you do. Why are you there? Is it economic opportunity, culture, shopping, night life, or dating options? How’s that working, right now? How much of that will return? How long until you can go watch a professional sporting event? Do you feel like dancing in a sweaty mob, right now? If you lose your job, and/or your house, get out of the city! How often would it be acceptable to you to be ordered to cower in place? I ask this not because I am convinced that this crisis was manufactured with the intent to expand social control, but because it worked so effectively, to that end. It’s in the play book, now. Remember that psychopathy is pervasive in the political class. They don’t think like us. The lack of remorse or empathy, along with egomania and a lust for power are indicative of people who seek office. There are people genetically engineering bio weapons, right now. There are people who are willing to use them, in office. Heck, after this, you may not even need an actual threat to close the iron fist. There is a good bit of “invisible enemy” propaganda flying about, at present. Just the suggestion of a new pathogen, and some stock photos of a crowded hospital are all they would need, for pretext. Is the city where you really need to be, right now?
Skills
You have some time on your hands, and the internet, for now. Learn new skills. Sharpen knives. Cook from scratch. Sew something. Learn Spanish. Study field medicine. Carve a spoon. Start a fire without a match or lighter. If you have skills, use them to trade education with others who know things. Make things you can trade for other things.
Tactical readiness
Los Angeles deemed gun stores “non-essential”, right away. Those that refused to comply found their water and power cut, by the county. The time to arm yourself is not during the crisis. As things ease up, you might wish to acquire some weaponry, if you lack it, now. For first time gun buyers, I recommend starting with a 12 gauge shot gun, and a mix of game load (for birds and home defense) and 00 buck shot (for large animals and perimeter defense. More important than armaments are arrangements, however. Do you have a “bug-out” plan? Do you have rally points arranged with your loved ones? Is there a place your affinity group can rally and defend? Think about these things, and talk to your community about them. “What do we do if...?” is the question to ask. Do you have a means of exchange that is not backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Reserve System? Cash could be outlawed, overnight. Banks could fail. Some silver is good, but bullets and mason jars are probably better. Salt, sugar, liquor, seeds, and antibiotics are also reasonably stable and easily dividable.
Power structures
While watching all of this play out, I am hyper tuned into the language that is being used, and the novel actions being taken at every level of control. If you are like me, and don’t like what you’re seeing, now is the time to consider what constitutes ethic organization. Organization is the most powerful human attribute. It does not require coercion, hierarchy, or subservience. If you stand for nothing, you will fall for whatever strong man pops up. Every evil, power mad, dictator who ever came along used a time of crisis to rise to power. If you want to stop that, you have to scream “NO!” early on. Whether in small groups, or in larger contexts, reject authoritarianism. Even if you are scared, and don’t have all of the answers, oppose those who would solve your problems in exchange for your liberty. Donate time and treasure for community projects that you value, but refuse to be taxed. This may be our chance to finally free humanity. Be ready.
Here are some resources that may help. These are amazon affiliate links, for which I receive a small commission.
