'Memories of the Past Hundred Years'
July 8, 2059
"Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck." Proverbs 1: 8-9
"Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14
I spent my childhood on a small diversified farm of 1120 acres. We had about 30 Hereford beef cows and a bull, 3 or 4 Holstein milk cows, 5 or 6 sows and their litters of baby pigs, about 50 laying hens, our faithful dog, Shep and a few bottle lambs for us kids to raise. We also had about 50 butchering chickens, a large garden and a few big, old apple trees that my Grandparents planted. The farm also raised wheat as a cash crop and on most years, raised enough oats, barley and hay to feed all the animals. We produced about 80% of all the food we ate on the farm and ate like Kings!! My Dad told stories about growing up during the Great Depression. He said that his family never had any money but always had enough food to eat!!
The farmstead was located on a large, bowl shaped valley surrounded by hills at the head of a small 'crick' which lead off to the north. The crick was very deep and narrow, flanked by towering slopes and bigger hills. I can distinctly remember my childhood by how far we children explored the valley. By the time I was six, we made it around the bend to a large clump of American Elm trees. What was way cool about this clump was that on trunk was growing straight out and about 4 feet off the ground. That was sure a great tree to climb for us little kids. By the time I was ten, we made it a half mile down the crick to the stock dam. After that, our range of exploration exploded for miles into the magical kingdom of the 'badlands' to our east!!!
Life on the farm centered around 'faith, farming, family and community!' Maybe not in that order of importance. There were times that the demands of the farm seemed to take a higher priority than family--but that's another story.
Community life centered around the local community church and the small country school. The country school also functioned as the community center for dances, pot-luck meals followed by card games, a gathering place for local deer hunters on weekends and any other social event that the community could think up. The local country church was also the center for the community to gather each Sunday morning, each holiday, wedding, funeral, confirmation, Bible study and more. These shared beliefs, values, gatherings and also sharing the huge amounts of physical work required to keep the farms productive on these harsh and unforgiving prairies contributed to family and community bonds that all but disappeared with the--so called--'advancements' of modern society. These shared values and community bonds had to be quickly re-invented during the Dark Years just for people to stay alive. Those people that attempted to survive as isolated individuals or families, inevitably didn't make it.
As I wrote earlier, I was born and raised in a German-Russian farming community out on the windswept prairies of southwestern North Dakota. I was born into a large, extended family that lived close together up and down a small gravel road. Life was dictated by the cycles and seasons of the farmwork which was made easier and more enjoyable by the close bonds my Dad had with his two older brothers and one sister. This extended family of siblings helped each other with many of the larger farming tasks. The brothers especially, worked together for most of the fieldwork such as planting, putting up hay and harvest. The bought many of the large pieces of farm machinery in partnership which greatly reduced the costs of managing a farm. My Dad also worked with other relatives on putting up corn silage.
Butchering and processing beef and pork, building and remodelling projects, the proverbial community gatherings for 'barn raising', now pole and sheet metal buildings and lesser projects that required an additional one or two sets of hands, brought differing individuals and small groups to each others' farms to 'help out'.
Individuals within the community developed specialized skills within the overall context of diversified farms. My Dad was the local, community, 'unlicensed' electrician. My cousins Clarence and Donald where 'master' welders and metal fabricators but they weren't certified either. My Uncle Hank was a very good carpenter. Others were shirttail vets, farriers, mechanics, plumbers you name it. Rarely, was a tradesperson called in from outside the community during my early years of life. Of course, the occasional 'quick trip to town' for spare parts was demanded but onlly after much time and effort was expended attempting to fix it ourselves. That all slowly changed with the coming of the telephone and the improvements to the roads and vehicles.
Chapter 4 to be continued!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Chapter 3: continued, part 3
"Memories of the Past Hundred Years"
June 28, 2059
Revelation 18:4-7 "...Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. ... Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself..."
It's another beautiful, sunny day--just another GREAT day to be alive! But of course, I say that every morning that I wake up and find that I am still alive! The gardens are doing so well! My 'kids'--I call everyone that is younger than me 'my kids'---are doing so great learning, caring and loving the young plants that promise continued life to all of us here on the farm!
CHRISTIAN AGRARIANS: Many people have written complex definitions of this term but I define it simply as "devote Christians who choose to live a life closely connected to God's Creation."
I consider my 'Germans from Russia' ancestors to be early 'Christian Agrarians'. Life today, fifty years after the 'Great Crash' has a strong resemblence to how my German ancestors organized their lives on the barron steppes of South Russia. FAITH, FAMILY & COMMUNITY was the basis for every aspect of their lives, how they lived and worked together, how they organized their communities, how they treated each other, how they addressed personal and social problems, their political and court systems, their economy and commerce between communities. Everything in their lives was based on the morality and ethics expressed in the 'HOLY BIBLE'. Love for God was expressed by their love for others! It was a simple code that didn't need huge volumes of written laws and codes.
Most people from the time before the Great Crash considered Christian Agrarians to be organized groups like the Amish, the Hutterites, the Mennonites etc. that organized themselves in communities separate from the mainstream society. But that preception left out a large and diverse range of peoples from every denomination, race and economic background. These people chose to leave mainstream society for moral and religous reasons to find life and spiritual inspiration working the soil and living close to God's Creation.
Christian Agrarians are--at least by my understanding---such a broad and diverce group as to defy simple descriptions. They sure don't fit into neat catagories. Many but not all, chose to leave mainstream society because of the preceived immorality of the culture around them. Many but not all, chose to leave because of the preceived dangers that were building in our country, the economy and world events. Many chose to ignor the bright lights and temptations of the city and have lived in the country for generations. Many were survivalists, preppers, doomers etc. that found a spiritual path for guidence just by living next to other Christian Agrarians.
These individuals, families and small groups lived isolated from each other and for the most part, felt very alone in the sea of the dominant, materialistic culture. But then came the Internet. Thru the 'magic' of this technology, people were able to communicate at the speed of light from their own homes even if they lived "out in the middle of nowhere". The internet allowed people to 'connect' with others who had similar interests from all over the country and from around the world. 'Blogging'--writing and posting a personal diary of thoughts, activities, information and interests--on the Internet became a unifying force for manyChristian Agrarians.
Many Christian Agrarians shared similar traits but there again, there was great diversity within this group of people. These traits included homeschooling, homebirths, home churches, alternatives in health care including herbal and nutritional healing, large, closeknit and loving families, community networking, strong agrarian principles of self-sufficiency and mutual support which included growing, producing and preserving much of their own food, building and repairing much of what was needed for daily life and the willingness to share these skills and resources with anyone that was interested unlike survivalists and preppers who tended towards keeping their preps secret and keeping to themselves.
Unlike the preppers and survivalists, Christian Agrarians lived a productive farming life on a daily basis. When the Great Crash came, they were already knowledgable and prepared for living without the dominant society's luxuries.
These shared traits of 'love for others', family and community building, networking with others and a sincere sense of 'purpose in this world', made these Christian Agrarian families and groups 'bright, shining lights' during those horrible 'DARK YEARS'!
These Christian Agrarians played a pivotal role in saving unnummerable lives during the DARK YEARS by sharing their food and more importantly, 'how to produce food' after the economic system collapsed. They also were intrumental in re-establishing order and safety in this great time of chaos.
But ultimately, their belief in God's love and purpose gave many lost souls a sense of HOPE for the future when all those around them had given up all hope!
June 28, 2059
Revelation 18:4-7 "...Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. ... Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself..."
It's another beautiful, sunny day--just another GREAT day to be alive! But of course, I say that every morning that I wake up and find that I am still alive! The gardens are doing so well! My 'kids'--I call everyone that is younger than me 'my kids'---are doing so great learning, caring and loving the young plants that promise continued life to all of us here on the farm!
CHRISTIAN AGRARIANS: Many people have written complex definitions of this term but I define it simply as "devote Christians who choose to live a life closely connected to God's Creation."
I consider my 'Germans from Russia' ancestors to be early 'Christian Agrarians'. Life today, fifty years after the 'Great Crash' has a strong resemblence to how my German ancestors organized their lives on the barron steppes of South Russia. FAITH, FAMILY & COMMUNITY was the basis for every aspect of their lives, how they lived and worked together, how they organized their communities, how they treated each other, how they addressed personal and social problems, their political and court systems, their economy and commerce between communities. Everything in their lives was based on the morality and ethics expressed in the 'HOLY BIBLE'. Love for God was expressed by their love for others! It was a simple code that didn't need huge volumes of written laws and codes.
Most people from the time before the Great Crash considered Christian Agrarians to be organized groups like the Amish, the Hutterites, the Mennonites etc. that organized themselves in communities separate from the mainstream society. But that preception left out a large and diverse range of peoples from every denomination, race and economic background. These people chose to leave mainstream society for moral and religous reasons to find life and spiritual inspiration working the soil and living close to God's Creation.
Christian Agrarians are--at least by my understanding---such a broad and diverce group as to defy simple descriptions. They sure don't fit into neat catagories. Many but not all, chose to leave mainstream society because of the preceived immorality of the culture around them. Many but not all, chose to leave because of the preceived dangers that were building in our country, the economy and world events. Many chose to ignor the bright lights and temptations of the city and have lived in the country for generations. Many were survivalists, preppers, doomers etc. that found a spiritual path for guidence just by living next to other Christian Agrarians.
These individuals, families and small groups lived isolated from each other and for the most part, felt very alone in the sea of the dominant, materialistic culture. But then came the Internet. Thru the 'magic' of this technology, people were able to communicate at the speed of light from their own homes even if they lived "out in the middle of nowhere". The internet allowed people to 'connect' with others who had similar interests from all over the country and from around the world. 'Blogging'--writing and posting a personal diary of thoughts, activities, information and interests--on the Internet became a unifying force for manyChristian Agrarians.
Many Christian Agrarians shared similar traits but there again, there was great diversity within this group of people. These traits included homeschooling, homebirths, home churches, alternatives in health care including herbal and nutritional healing, large, closeknit and loving families, community networking, strong agrarian principles of self-sufficiency and mutual support which included growing, producing and preserving much of their own food, building and repairing much of what was needed for daily life and the willingness to share these skills and resources with anyone that was interested unlike survivalists and preppers who tended towards keeping their preps secret and keeping to themselves.
Unlike the preppers and survivalists, Christian Agrarians lived a productive farming life on a daily basis. When the Great Crash came, they were already knowledgable and prepared for living without the dominant society's luxuries.
These shared traits of 'love for others', family and community building, networking with others and a sincere sense of 'purpose in this world', made these Christian Agrarian families and groups 'bright, shining lights' during those horrible 'DARK YEARS'!
These Christian Agrarians played a pivotal role in saving unnummerable lives during the DARK YEARS by sharing their food and more importantly, 'how to produce food' after the economic system collapsed. They also were intrumental in re-establishing order and safety in this great time of chaos.
But ultimately, their belief in God's love and purpose gave many lost souls a sense of HOPE for the future when all those around them had given up all hope!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Chapter 3 continued: part 2
"Memories of the past hundred years"
June 17, 2059
Proverbs 22:3 "A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it."
Proverbs 21:20 "In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but the foolish man devours all he has."
Where does the time go? You'd think that I had all the time in the world to write down these memories of my life. Indeed, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my days are numbered and I could die tomorrow. I have been blessed with a very long and fruitful life. You'd think that I'd be in a much greater hurry to get my memories down on paper. I find it hard to believe that in about two months, if I should live so long, I'll be celebrating my one hundred and fourth free ride completely around the sun!
Preppers: Short for 'people preparing' commonly referring to those people that saw the dark clouds building on the horizon and made some effort to prepare. They were also called "Doomers" or "Survivalists" by mainstream society before the Great Crash.
Survivalists have been around for many decades before the preppers ever showed up into view by the mainstream media. So it was easy for most people and news sources to just lump them all together. According to the mainstream media before the Great Crash, survivalists tended to have the image of 'Rambo' but with huge beer bellies, wearing military fatigues, armed with military assault rifles, bonded together in macho, men's clubs called 'underground militias', running around the woods playing war games and planning domestic terrorist attacks on helpless 'widows and orphans'. Oh sure, there were a few such individuals and groups but the growth of 'preppers' was far less dramatic and far more widespread.
"BEANS, BULLETS AND BULLION" could have been the motto of the preppers.
With the awareness of 'Peak Oil' inching its way into the conscienceness of a few people in the late 1990s, then the tragic events of 9-11 followed by the even greater chaos of Hurricane Katrina, the break down of law & order with the flooding of New Orleans and then the years of the 'Great Recession of 2008-2009,' common people started to see that life wasn't as stable and secure as they were lead to believe. They witnessed with their own eyes the often slow and inept responses by our government to the trajedies and sufferings around them. They started to wonder what they could do to provide for the safety of their own families in the days after a major storm or a man-made disaster. Individually, they came to their own conclusions that it just might be prudent to store a little extra food in the pantry and maybe own a gun to protect against home invasion by crooks and robbers. As the economic situation started to deteriorate, some people started to buy a few gold coins and pre-1965 silver coins. "Beans, bullets and bullion", was a simple catch phrase for preparing for troubled times by stocking up on a few basic essentials.
The concept of making some basic preparations crossed the entire demographic spectrum for at least a small portion of the public that were starting to feel insecure in this first decade of 2000. Little old ladies who lived thru the last Great Depression as little children, added more canned goods to their already well stocked pantries, upper management personnel in 3 piece suits started to stock their lake homes with added supplies to ride out a few weeks of troubles if something bad ever happened. The term 'bugging out' became popular to preppers. It implied escaping the city in times of trouble and heading to their well stocked 'retreats' to wait out the trouble -- warm, safe and wellfed while the masses fought with each other trying to survive. In addition to stocking up on some extra supplies, a few suburban dwellers tore up small areas of their back yards and put in gardens. Some bought generators and stored cans of gasoline to provide power when the electricity went out. Some added rainwater catchment systems. The lists of preparations were limitless for those that took it seriously.
Just a few of the items that they stocked up on included:
Food and water in long term storable containers
Needed medications and first aid supplies
Health care and personal hygiene supplies
An 'off-grid' heat source such as a wood stove
Warm clothing, bedding and sleeping bags
Guns, ammo, strong doors and windows, perimeter fencing, lights, security systems, possibly a 'safe room' and other home security equipment
A 'bugout' bag for the car and office to help the person reach their home in times of trouble.
Bugout bags already packed and a bugout plan for the family if they would need to leave their city or suburbs quickly in times of trouble.
These lists were endless and were dependent on a person's level of concern, the support of their family and their financial ability to purchase all of this PREPARATION STUFF.
These so called 'preppers' were so far removed from the Rambo type 'survivalist' image that the mainstream media had to invent a new term to marginalize this growing awareness. The term 'Doomers' came into being as an insult to the 'Chicken Littles' described in the media as running around crying that the 'Sky is Falling!!!' Some preppers took over the term 'doomer' as a badge of honor and called the masses 'sheeple' for blindly following their leaders into the dark times like sheep to the slaughter.
Whole new industries grew up around 'preppers!' Long term storable, freeze dried foods became very popular and VERY expensive. Sales of guns and especially ammunition emptied the shelves by late 2008 and 2009. Sales of gold and silver coins to the general public doubled and doubled again. By the end of 2009, governments around the world were unable to mint enough gold coins to keep up with the demand.
The internet became the center for information and networking for preppers and doomers. Sites like 'Life after the Oil Crash' and the 'Survival Blog' had followings of tens and even hundreds of thousands. Alternative news sites openly competed with the mainstream media to get out the truth of what was going on in the world. Many of the old established printed newspapers saw a major decline in subscriptions. But when the Great Crash came, all of this was a case of "too little-too late" to mitigate or prevent the great suffering and loss of life.
Those wise enough to do even a little preparation greatly improved their chances of surviving the Great Crash but when life didn't ever return to back to 'normal', many preppers saw their supplies run out over a period of time and still suffered or died during the 'Terrible Winter' and the following 'Dark Years'
Most 'preppers' had a 'go it alone attitude' and made serious efforts to keep their preparations secret from their neighbors. Some joined together in small groups of like-minded individuals or families to develop 'retreats' hidden away in the woods and kept secret from the community. These 'stand alone' preppers almost always failed during the extreme struggles of the era after the Great Crash. The only successful ones were where they became part of a close-knit community for mutual support and protection.
I'll write about 'Christian Agrarians' if I'm still around and when I can take the time from my teaching the young ones about gardening.
"Man's mind is his basic tool of survival." ---Ayn Rand
"...nuclear warfare is not necessary to cause a breakdown of our society. You take a large city like Los Angeles, New York,, Chicago -- their water supply comes from hundreds of miles away and any interruption of that, or food, or power for any period of time you're going to have riots in the streets.
Our society is so fragile, so dependent on the interworkings of things to provide us with goods and services, that you don't need nuclear warfare to fragment us anymore than the Romans needed it to cause their eventual downfall."
---- Gene Roddenberry
June 17, 2059
Proverbs 22:3 "A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it."
Proverbs 21:20 "In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but the foolish man devours all he has."
Where does the time go? You'd think that I had all the time in the world to write down these memories of my life. Indeed, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my days are numbered and I could die tomorrow. I have been blessed with a very long and fruitful life. You'd think that I'd be in a much greater hurry to get my memories down on paper. I find it hard to believe that in about two months, if I should live so long, I'll be celebrating my one hundred and fourth free ride completely around the sun!
Preppers: Short for 'people preparing' commonly referring to those people that saw the dark clouds building on the horizon and made some effort to prepare. They were also called "Doomers" or "Survivalists" by mainstream society before the Great Crash.
Survivalists have been around for many decades before the preppers ever showed up into view by the mainstream media. So it was easy for most people and news sources to just lump them all together. According to the mainstream media before the Great Crash, survivalists tended to have the image of 'Rambo' but with huge beer bellies, wearing military fatigues, armed with military assault rifles, bonded together in macho, men's clubs called 'underground militias', running around the woods playing war games and planning domestic terrorist attacks on helpless 'widows and orphans'. Oh sure, there were a few such individuals and groups but the growth of 'preppers' was far less dramatic and far more widespread.
"BEANS, BULLETS AND BULLION" could have been the motto of the preppers.
With the awareness of 'Peak Oil' inching its way into the conscienceness of a few people in the late 1990s, then the tragic events of 9-11 followed by the even greater chaos of Hurricane Katrina, the break down of law & order with the flooding of New Orleans and then the years of the 'Great Recession of 2008-2009,' common people started to see that life wasn't as stable and secure as they were lead to believe. They witnessed with their own eyes the often slow and inept responses by our government to the trajedies and sufferings around them. They started to wonder what they could do to provide for the safety of their own families in the days after a major storm or a man-made disaster. Individually, they came to their own conclusions that it just might be prudent to store a little extra food in the pantry and maybe own a gun to protect against home invasion by crooks and robbers. As the economic situation started to deteriorate, some people started to buy a few gold coins and pre-1965 silver coins. "Beans, bullets and bullion", was a simple catch phrase for preparing for troubled times by stocking up on a few basic essentials.
The concept of making some basic preparations crossed the entire demographic spectrum for at least a small portion of the public that were starting to feel insecure in this first decade of 2000. Little old ladies who lived thru the last Great Depression as little children, added more canned goods to their already well stocked pantries, upper management personnel in 3 piece suits started to stock their lake homes with added supplies to ride out a few weeks of troubles if something bad ever happened. The term 'bugging out' became popular to preppers. It implied escaping the city in times of trouble and heading to their well stocked 'retreats' to wait out the trouble -- warm, safe and wellfed while the masses fought with each other trying to survive. In addition to stocking up on some extra supplies, a few suburban dwellers tore up small areas of their back yards and put in gardens. Some bought generators and stored cans of gasoline to provide power when the electricity went out. Some added rainwater catchment systems. The lists of preparations were limitless for those that took it seriously.
Just a few of the items that they stocked up on included:
Food and water in long term storable containers
Needed medications and first aid supplies
Health care and personal hygiene supplies
An 'off-grid' heat source such as a wood stove
Warm clothing, bedding and sleeping bags
Guns, ammo, strong doors and windows, perimeter fencing, lights, security systems, possibly a 'safe room' and other home security equipment
A 'bugout' bag for the car and office to help the person reach their home in times of trouble.
Bugout bags already packed and a bugout plan for the family if they would need to leave their city or suburbs quickly in times of trouble.
These lists were endless and were dependent on a person's level of concern, the support of their family and their financial ability to purchase all of this PREPARATION STUFF.
These so called 'preppers' were so far removed from the Rambo type 'survivalist' image that the mainstream media had to invent a new term to marginalize this growing awareness. The term 'Doomers' came into being as an insult to the 'Chicken Littles' described in the media as running around crying that the 'Sky is Falling!!!' Some preppers took over the term 'doomer' as a badge of honor and called the masses 'sheeple' for blindly following their leaders into the dark times like sheep to the slaughter.
Whole new industries grew up around 'preppers!' Long term storable, freeze dried foods became very popular and VERY expensive. Sales of guns and especially ammunition emptied the shelves by late 2008 and 2009. Sales of gold and silver coins to the general public doubled and doubled again. By the end of 2009, governments around the world were unable to mint enough gold coins to keep up with the demand.
The internet became the center for information and networking for preppers and doomers. Sites like 'Life after the Oil Crash' and the 'Survival Blog' had followings of tens and even hundreds of thousands. Alternative news sites openly competed with the mainstream media to get out the truth of what was going on in the world. Many of the old established printed newspapers saw a major decline in subscriptions. But when the Great Crash came, all of this was a case of "too little-too late" to mitigate or prevent the great suffering and loss of life.
Those wise enough to do even a little preparation greatly improved their chances of surviving the Great Crash but when life didn't ever return to back to 'normal', many preppers saw their supplies run out over a period of time and still suffered or died during the 'Terrible Winter' and the following 'Dark Years'
Most 'preppers' had a 'go it alone attitude' and made serious efforts to keep their preparations secret from their neighbors. Some joined together in small groups of like-minded individuals or families to develop 'retreats' hidden away in the woods and kept secret from the community. These 'stand alone' preppers almost always failed during the extreme struggles of the era after the Great Crash. The only successful ones were where they became part of a close-knit community for mutual support and protection.
I'll write about 'Christian Agrarians' if I'm still around and when I can take the time from my teaching the young ones about gardening.
"Man's mind is his basic tool of survival." ---Ayn Rand
"...nuclear warfare is not necessary to cause a breakdown of our society. You take a large city like Los Angeles, New York,, Chicago -- their water supply comes from hundreds of miles away and any interruption of that, or food, or power for any period of time you're going to have riots in the streets.
Our society is so fragile, so dependent on the interworkings of things to provide us with goods and services, that you don't need nuclear warfare to fragment us anymore than the Romans needed it to cause their eventual downfall."
---- Gene Roddenberry
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Chapter 3: Of Hippies, Preppers and Christian Agrarians
"Memories of the Past Hundred Years"
June 5, 2059
Matthew 16: 2-3 Jesus replied, "When evening comes you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red' and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times."
Surprise!!! I've been given the gift of another week!!........It's been a while since I wrote last. I've been busy........you'd think that after living a hundred and three years, that life would slow down a little. But that's not the case! I'm still teaching gardening skills to anyone interested and this is really a busy time of the year!
Throughout these past fifty years since the Great Crash, I've been thinking a whole lot on how some people could see the handwriting on the wall so plainly while most of society could not. Those that could see, did a bunch to prepare for the coming troubles while the vast majority that could not see, were caught completely by surprise, totally unprepared, much to their distress and loss!!!
But WHY couldn't they see???
It wasn't like the signs and warnings weren't all around us! I dug out my old diary from early in two thousand and ten to see if I could find any clues as to what was going on right before the Great Crash.
Here are some quotes from well respected news sources of that era from just one day--January 4, 2010:
Wall Street Journel--"Budget deficit woes pushing U.S. near precipice"
ABC News--"States scramble for emergency funding as (tax) dollars dry up"
U.K. Telegraph--"Printing so much money is a game with dangerous results"
And part of the climatic news from the Mid-East from that same day:
The International News: "Energy Crisis may cripple Pakistan by mid-January"
And these terrible signs of the times continued day after day while the masses walked thru their lives zombie-like, completely blind to the storm clouds building all around them..............sigh.
It is my guess that the masses of people that lived as part of mainstream society were just so caught up in their daily lives that they could not see beyond the next few days ahead of them and they were certainly clueless when it came to understanding past history or current events. What time they did have to themselves was spent mindlessly glued to the virtual world of television and video games and completely ignorant to the real world. All their daily needs were provided by big box stores or corporations. Their lives were completely separated from the realities of providing their own necessities of life. What a recipe for disaster as events would prove!!
But there were a few people that not only recognized the storm clouds that were building but made considerable efforts preparing for them. It has been my experience that these people fit into three catagories: Hippies, Preppers and Christian Agrarians. I'm sure other people could make different lists with equal or greater authority but this is how I remember that period of history.
"HIPPIES" from the root word 'hip' defined by Webster as 'keenly aware'.
As a kid, this cleancut all American farmboy first came across 'hippies' in the nightly news reports about war protests back in the 1960s. They looked pretty crazy to me! But as time went on, I grew up and got drafted into the army during the last part of the Vietnam War. Fortunately, I was stationed in Alaska.
This ol' farmboy sure wasn't in Kansas anymore!!! I sure learned that life wasn't all black-n-white, left or right, liberal or conservative, love it or leave it. I learned that God and Country weren't the same thing as I had been lead to believe. Now don't get me wrong, I love my country deeply and sincerely but I sure learned that politicians bought and paid for by big corporations don't necessarily have my best interests at heart. I came out of the army very disallusioned and questioning the very premises that were the foundation of the view I had on the world.
Well, maybe the 'hippies' weren't Satan's spawn after all. Let's see, principles of peace and love, social justice, environmental respect, dropping out of the system and moving 'back to the land', growing organic gardens and living a life of respect for each other and the earth... O.K. that doesn't sound too bad.
Loud rock music---I can dig it! Sign me up!
Maybe the free sex and drugs weren't exactly moral according to my religious teachings but most of this sure touched a cord deep inside of my heart.
What pushed me completely over the edge into becoming "a card carrying, longhaired hippie-back to the land-treehugger" was how badly the big increases in fuel prices hurt me financially after the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973. I was into my first year of college after getting out of the army and living on the VERY fixed income of the G.I. Bill. Doubling and tripling of heating oil costs over the winter of 73-74 just destroyed my 'budget'. I swore to 'never get caught by surprise again' by outside economic forces!!!! I felt betrayed---why hadn't anyone warned me that such things could happen?????!!!
The 'back to the land' movement really got moving with the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 fuel shortages, the runaway inflation of the 70s, the pollution, overcrowding and stress of urban society and on and on. Many mainstream urbanites left their 9-5 jobs and moved onto little mini-farms and homesteads. Most gave up after a few years and went back to the urban culture again but a few settled in for their lifetimes.
Self proclaimed 'hippies' pretty well died out from notice by the general public after the economic recovery of the 1980s. 'CHEAP' oil brought online by the development of the new oil fields at the North Slope of Alaska and the North Sea off of Norway brought another two plus decades of 'shop till you drop,' happy motoring, suburban sprawl. Many hard core 'closet hippies' lived quietly back in the woods, raising organic gardens and developing alternative energies. Many of these old hippies became leaders of the sustainable agriculture and energy movements of the late 1990s but most were quite happy to live 'off the radar'. Some of these old-timers became very vocal proclaiming the warnings of the coming economic crash. Sadly, very few paid any attention to them.
Bedtime........I'll write about Preppers and Christian Agrarians if I wake up tomorrow!
While cruising thru my diary from back before the crash, I came across a quote from an author named "Matthew Stein". Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, his words were quite profound and very prophetic!
"the truth is that if technology fails in a big way, your ability to do things with your hands, like grow food, make a shelter and heal people without high-tech pharmaceuticals, will be quite valuable ... Strength will be in tight knit communities with a shared pool of resources and skills, cemented by strong people bonds"
June 5, 2059
Matthew 16: 2-3 Jesus replied, "When evening comes you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red' and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times."
Surprise!!! I've been given the gift of another week!!........It's been a while since I wrote last. I've been busy........you'd think that after living a hundred and three years, that life would slow down a little. But that's not the case! I'm still teaching gardening skills to anyone interested and this is really a busy time of the year!
Throughout these past fifty years since the Great Crash, I've been thinking a whole lot on how some people could see the handwriting on the wall so plainly while most of society could not. Those that could see, did a bunch to prepare for the coming troubles while the vast majority that could not see, were caught completely by surprise, totally unprepared, much to their distress and loss!!!
But WHY couldn't they see???
It wasn't like the signs and warnings weren't all around us! I dug out my old diary from early in two thousand and ten to see if I could find any clues as to what was going on right before the Great Crash.
Here are some quotes from well respected news sources of that era from just one day--January 4, 2010:
Wall Street Journel--"Budget deficit woes pushing U.S. near precipice"
ABC News--"States scramble for emergency funding as (tax) dollars dry up"
U.K. Telegraph--"Printing so much money is a game with dangerous results"
And part of the climatic news from the Mid-East from that same day:
The International News: "Energy Crisis may cripple Pakistan by mid-January"
And these terrible signs of the times continued day after day while the masses walked thru their lives zombie-like, completely blind to the storm clouds building all around them..............sigh.
It is my guess that the masses of people that lived as part of mainstream society were just so caught up in their daily lives that they could not see beyond the next few days ahead of them and they were certainly clueless when it came to understanding past history or current events. What time they did have to themselves was spent mindlessly glued to the virtual world of television and video games and completely ignorant to the real world. All their daily needs were provided by big box stores or corporations. Their lives were completely separated from the realities of providing their own necessities of life. What a recipe for disaster as events would prove!!
But there were a few people that not only recognized the storm clouds that were building but made considerable efforts preparing for them. It has been my experience that these people fit into three catagories: Hippies, Preppers and Christian Agrarians. I'm sure other people could make different lists with equal or greater authority but this is how I remember that period of history.
"HIPPIES" from the root word 'hip' defined by Webster as 'keenly aware'.
As a kid, this cleancut all American farmboy first came across 'hippies' in the nightly news reports about war protests back in the 1960s. They looked pretty crazy to me! But as time went on, I grew up and got drafted into the army during the last part of the Vietnam War. Fortunately, I was stationed in Alaska.
This ol' farmboy sure wasn't in Kansas anymore!!! I sure learned that life wasn't all black-n-white, left or right, liberal or conservative, love it or leave it. I learned that God and Country weren't the same thing as I had been lead to believe. Now don't get me wrong, I love my country deeply and sincerely but I sure learned that politicians bought and paid for by big corporations don't necessarily have my best interests at heart. I came out of the army very disallusioned and questioning the very premises that were the foundation of the view I had on the world.
Well, maybe the 'hippies' weren't Satan's spawn after all. Let's see, principles of peace and love, social justice, environmental respect, dropping out of the system and moving 'back to the land', growing organic gardens and living a life of respect for each other and the earth... O.K. that doesn't sound too bad.
Loud rock music---I can dig it! Sign me up!
Maybe the free sex and drugs weren't exactly moral according to my religious teachings but most of this sure touched a cord deep inside of my heart.
What pushed me completely over the edge into becoming "a card carrying, longhaired hippie-back to the land-treehugger" was how badly the big increases in fuel prices hurt me financially after the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973. I was into my first year of college after getting out of the army and living on the VERY fixed income of the G.I. Bill. Doubling and tripling of heating oil costs over the winter of 73-74 just destroyed my 'budget'. I swore to 'never get caught by surprise again' by outside economic forces!!!! I felt betrayed---why hadn't anyone warned me that such things could happen?????!!!
The 'back to the land' movement really got moving with the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 fuel shortages, the runaway inflation of the 70s, the pollution, overcrowding and stress of urban society and on and on. Many mainstream urbanites left their 9-5 jobs and moved onto little mini-farms and homesteads. Most gave up after a few years and went back to the urban culture again but a few settled in for their lifetimes.
Self proclaimed 'hippies' pretty well died out from notice by the general public after the economic recovery of the 1980s. 'CHEAP' oil brought online by the development of the new oil fields at the North Slope of Alaska and the North Sea off of Norway brought another two plus decades of 'shop till you drop,' happy motoring, suburban sprawl. Many hard core 'closet hippies' lived quietly back in the woods, raising organic gardens and developing alternative energies. Many of these old hippies became leaders of the sustainable agriculture and energy movements of the late 1990s but most were quite happy to live 'off the radar'. Some of these old-timers became very vocal proclaiming the warnings of the coming economic crash. Sadly, very few paid any attention to them.
Bedtime........I'll write about Preppers and Christian Agrarians if I wake up tomorrow!
While cruising thru my diary from back before the crash, I came across a quote from an author named "Matthew Stein". Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, his words were quite profound and very prophetic!
"the truth is that if technology fails in a big way, your ability to do things with your hands, like grow food, make a shelter and heal people without high-tech pharmaceuticals, will be quite valuable ... Strength will be in tight knit communities with a shared pool of resources and skills, cemented by strong people bonds"
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