Wednesday, September 9, 2015

The Only Thing We Have to Fear is......





It seems the financial experts and survivalist types are back in the news these days. Actually they have been for a couple of weeks or more but I been far too busy to give them the time they deserve. Many an expert is predicting bad things on the horizon and many an ultimate doomer find themselves getting excited about Mad-Max scenarios and hordes of looting zombies once again as they run out to buy more ammo and canned hams to stick in the basement.

Not that there is anything wrong with more ammo or canned hams. You can never have too many of either.

I once thought like these types. I saw a collapse of any type as an end that would sink us all into a lawless world of banditry and chaos. Every one for themselves. Death everywhere. Destruction of all we know and love.

Then one day as I was researching three field rotation techniques as practiced by a small hamlet in the Southeast of present day France something clicked. The records were taken by a village priest, ok a series of village priests over the course of decades during the period of the Merovingian dynasty if I remember right. Dated somewhere around the sixth century. Only a little over 100 years after the traditional invasion periods and ultimate fall of Rome proper more or less depending on how you rate such things. The research was preserved later on when Charlemagne began establishing the educational abbeys across his realm.

What clicked then and remains with me to this day is that as war ravaged the land, new ruling groups took over, famine, taxes, pretty much anything bad you can think of happened. There were always areas that pretty much continued on as they always had.

Life goes on. It must.

Yet there is a deeper message here I think. One that we should never forget. In the midst of chaos and lawlessness human society always comes out on top. It always does otherwise we wouldn't be here now reading the words of others written 100's or 1000's of miles away over a computer screen now would we?

Even in collapse most people look for organized, peaceful, lawful, human societies to dwell within or near. Human default is not a Mad-Max free for all but organized groups for mutual protection and prosperity. Trade. Security.

No matter which collapse you wish to study you can always find areas that remained basically untouched or managed to shield itself from the violence and chaos that surrounded it. In many cases these areas then rose up themselves and brought civilization back to those lands that had been devastated.

My theory is that the basic human genetic milkshake makes this type of life easier in the end than one of conquest and pillaging. The very logistics involved in running a looting horde for any period of time is infinitely more complex than establishing a sustainable community and the moral implications on those who would participate in constant violence is also a consideration. One that is not an issue in a peaceful community set up for it's own defense.

The variables are almost endless but there is one at the top that I think trumps all the others. Even an army of looters needs a leader and any leader intelligent enough to hold such a group together is also intelligent enough to realize there is a much more efficient way of doing things no matter how blood thirsty or tyrannical they may be. In the end it is a big catch 22 that actually benefits the community minded preppers or sustainers.

I am not saying there won't be riots, death etc. especially in the urban areas. I am saying it will not be everywhere and a little common sense planning can generally find a location that will more than likely remain untouched.

Or you can panic and buy some remote parcel of land that cannot be farmed or used to sustain yourself and stock up on canned hams in your basement.

Better have a lot of storage space I guess since you ain't refilling what you use.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!!


8 comments:

  1. Dennis

    Here here. Those that take will face strife from with in and those that are not prepared are going to lose. A little knowledge goes a long way.

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  2. The Roman collapse was not nearly as extreme in some areas as others, and was not as extreme as many other collapses. Particularly because the Eastern Empire survived so much longer, Western Europe (the Carolingians in particular) had access to the advanced concepts of the day, The biggest collapses have whole societies literally disappearing. But even there, there is usually a fringe area that sticks around. Examples would be the Hittites (with the fringe being the Neo-Hittites of the Bible), the Mayan, and the Dark Age Greeks. It is similar in some ways to how everyone knows about the extinction of the dinosaurs, but it was far from the most extreme extinction events: the high profile of the actors (T-Rex and Co.) gets it all the press.

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  3. We have already started to collapse and it has come from large areas of the country electing people of both political parties who won't defend the borders or protect the population from invaders. These elected looters have emptied our treasury and given to their voters as payback. Our collapse will have initial riots mainly from the people who put the looters in control because they want the looting to continue but it can't after all the riches are gone. The biggest problem will be that the country will in many areas, rust into a third world type of existence while other areas will actually thrive. Similar to what has been said above but then that has already happened, just look around. What I am saying is that things are already in motion and one can kind of see how different areas of the country are heading. If things are violent and not looking good where you live then guess what, it isn't going to get better. There will be a day when people will suddenly realize how the media and professional looters have lied to them but it will be too late, lots of violence will happen in urban areas and they will call it the start of the collapse but it really has already begun.
    Suddenly electing good leaders may help but it will be like getting elected to captain of the Titanic after the iceberg. A good leader now will organize the collapse and maybe keep the violence isolated but I am afraid that we will have to go through some period of readjustment which in the long run will be a good thing possibly. I doubt that enough food can be stored so it would be wise to learn how to work, that will be the biggest shock to a lot of people, that stuff forming on their body for the first time is called sweat.

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  4. I agree with you, but i think certain groups are moving more and more towards lawlessness as their default state. Look at the looters in ferguson or any of the other riots and looting sprees started by the blm groups. They see colapse as a chance to run free in an orgy of crime, theft and violence. Or look at isis; they are founding a society on violence, rape and destruction. If / when the shtf then we will see those sorts of groups living a mad max sort of free for all. We will also see good people forming communities to hold back the darkness. The future of society depends on if the points of light are over whelmed by the sea of darkness or not.

    Exile1981

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  5. Some good points in comments and in your post ...

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  6. Brilliant post and a very realistic one I think. The people collecting ar15's and think tgere will be a constant blood bath are wrong. At least I hope they are or what's the point. The world will change though and I think things will get harder. I think they have to.
    Often people are amazed by how much I do in a week but my whole family is the same, and I think anyone willing to work (I mean really work) will be fine.

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  7. What you're saying is completely true. I know that everybody must say the same thing, but I just think that you put it in a way that everyone can understand. I'm sure you'll reach so many people with what you've got to say.

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