Rant alert:
It’s awfully trendy for certain non-prepper or urban dweller types to tell people that homesteading and gardening is all a big lie and they will NEVER be self sufficient etc. etc. It’s almost like they want people to fail at basic survival, rural living and self-reliance.
But here’s the thing, my ancestors survived as homesteaders without diesel or synthetic fertilizer, cell phones, fast food, or fabric softener, on the prairies during the coldest winters, hottest summers, fires, drought, floods, insect invasions, etc. Sure they were part of small scattered communities and they traded, bartered and purchased from each other, obviously.
Those were tiny communities spread out over mostly empty land and everyone was pretty much in the same boat. They didn’t starve, the fact that I’m here kind of proves it. They weren’t rich, most were dirt-poor farmers, but they survived some of the hardest times this country has ever seen and their country of origin, as well. But those communities sure as hell weren’t full of people shitting on them for working hard, making do with what they had, learning and teaching what they knew. Nobody bitched at anyone for canning a thousand jars of vegetables for the root cellar every summer and fall, gathering all the firewood and building furniture with an axe, and growing most of their medicine.
My ancestors came on a ship from Ireland with a suitcase. I have what they would consider riches now with a library of information on my computer that most everyone has access to as well, even the most financially disadvantaged among us.
When the SHTF as hard as we think it will, the people will, again, work their fingers to the bone, do without most consumables, make everything themselves and be glad for every single turnip they can grow themselves. They will save every elastic band and piece of string. They will learn resourcefulness all over again. It will have nothing to do with politics or ideology. It will be flat out survival.
And one more thing, no one is telling preppers what they have to do with their stockpiles. You can do whatever you want with your stuff, give it to anyone you want. But if you don’t even HAVE supplies, equipment, food, and knowledge right now, you won’t be in the game in the near future. Because if you are waiting for “mutual aid” to save you after months or years of natural disasters or war, you my friends, will be dead.
