Posted on 05/24/2008 11:30:31 AM PDT by decimon
BUSKIRK — A few years ago, Kathleen Breault was just another suburban grandma, driving countless hours every week, stopping for lunch at McDonald's, buying clothes at the mall, watching TV in the evenings.
That was before Breault heard an author talk about the bleak future of the world's oil supply. Now, she's preparing for the world as we know it to disappear.
Breault cut her driving time in half. She switched to a diet of locally grown foods near her upstate New York home and lost 70 pounds. She sliced up her credit cards, banished her television and swore off plane travel. She began relying on a wood-burning stove.
"I was panic-stricken," the 50-year-old recalled, her voice shaking. "Devastated. Depressed. Afraid. Vulnerable. Weak. Alone. Just terrible."
Convinced the planet's oil supply is dwindling and the world's economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn't prepare.
The exact number of people taking such steps is impossible to determine, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years.
These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that, seeing signs in soaring fuel and food prices and a faltering U.S. economy, and are largely focused on saving themselves.
Some are doing it quietly, giving few details of their preparations — afraid that revealing such information as the location of their supplies will endanger themselves and their loved ones. They envision a future in which the nation's cities will be filled with hungry, desperate refugees forced to go looking for food, shelter and water.
"There's going to be things that happen when people can't get things that they need for themselves and their families," said Lynn-Marie, who believes cities could see a rise in violence as early as 2012.
Lynn-Marie asked to be identified by her first name to protect her homestead in rural western Idaho. Many of these survivalists declined to speak to The Associated Press for similar reasons.
These survivalists believe in "peak oil," the idea that world oil production is set to hit a high point and then decline. Scientists who support idea say the amount of oil produced in the world each year has already or will soon begin a downward slide, even amid increased demand. But many scientists say such a scenario will be avoided as other sources of energy come in to fill the void.
On the PeakOil.com Web site, where upward of 800 people gathered on recent evenings, believers engage in a debate about what kind of world awaits.
Some members argue there will be no financial crash, but a slow slide into harder times. Some believe the federal government will respond to the loss of energy security with a clampdown on personal freedoms. Others simply don't trust that the government can maintain basic services in the face of an energy crisis.
The powers that be, they've determined, will be largely powerless to stop what is to come.
Determined to guard themselves from potentially harsh times ahead, Lynn-Marie and her husband have already planted an orchard of about 40 trees and built a greenhouse on their 7 1/2 acres. They have built their own irrigation system. They've begun to raise chickens and pigs, and they've learned to slaughter them.
The couple have gotten rid of their TV and instead have been reading dusty old books published in their grandparents' era, books that explain the simpler lifestyle they are trying to revive. Lynn-Marie has been teaching herself how to make soap. Her husband, concerned about one day being unable to get medications, has been training to become an herbalist.
By 2012, they expect to power their property with solar panels, and produce their own meat, milk and vegetables. When things start to fall apart, they expect their children and grandchildren will come back home and help them work the land. She envisions a day when the family may have to decide whether to turn needy people away from their door.
"People will be unprepared," she said. "And we can imagine marauding hordes."
So can Peter Laskowski. Living in a woodsy area outside of Montpelier, Vt., the 57-year-old retiree has become the local constable and a deputy sheriff for his county, as well as an emergency medical technician.
"I decided there was nothing like getting the training myself to deal with insurrections, if that's a possibility," said the former executive recruiter.
Laskowski is taking steps similar to environmentalists: conserving fuel, consuming less, studying global warming, and relying on local produce and craftsmen. Laskowski is powering his home with solar panels and is raising fish, geese, ducks and sheep. He has planted apple and pear trees and is growing lettuce, spinach and corn.
Whenever possible, he uses his bicycle to get into town.
"I remember the oil crisis in '73; I remember waiting in line for gas," Laskowski said. "If there is a disruption in the oil supply it will be very quickly elevated into a disaster."
Breault said she hopes to someday band together with her neighbors to form a self-sufficient community. Women will always be having babies, she notes, and she imagines her skills as a midwife will always be in demand.
For now, she is readying for the more immediate work ahead: There's a root cellar to dig, fruit trees and vegetable plots to plant. She has put a bicycle on layaway, and soon she'll be able to bike to visit her grandkids even if there is no oil at the pump.
Whatever the shape of things yet to come, she said, she's done what she can to prepare.
___
On the Net:
Peak Oil: http://www.PeakOil.com
“Gullible”? “Ignorant”? “Stoopid”? I would not exactly refer to these people as stupid I honestly believe that they are seeing things about right once you factor in our elected officials and all that they are capable of.
Y'all sound like us. The last thing I want standing between my family and our survival is counting on the government to protect and provide for us. We have all that handled ourselves.
Louisiana in the summertime without air conditioning, must be as bad if not worse than Texas. lol
Too many will be expecting our government to take care of them if a crisis arises. The government will be too busy protecting and providing for its own survival to worry about we lowly citizens.
because I did learn animal husbandry and how to can/store food.
Congratulations. Two good hurdles to have overcome.
Holey Guacamoley, Batman.............
Ping to the weekly garden thread list.
Sheesh -— this is the kind of stuff most have been doing for ages, and these people are just now discovering it?????
Self reliance is great, but modern medicine rocks!
LOL!!! is right.
I found this thread before I saw your ping, but called away from the puter for a bit, so I’m a bit late to the party :)
These people are insane.
There are many of us who try to live in this fashion, not because we have to, but because we like to and the feeling of being self-sufficient is very satisfying at the end of the day. The folks in this article may be doing what the are for alarmist reasons, but I have no quarrel with them in the end.
"Look at the amount of money tied up in that supply of wood to burn!"
I have a woodshed that, at this moment, contains twice that amount of wood and as soon I finish splitting and stacking what is otherwise cut, we will have four times what you see in that photo. The only cost was time and the gas and bar oil that goes in the chainsaws and the fuel that runs the tractor with the hydraulic splitter mounted. If you have trees on your land ... you have lots of wood inexpensively.
"I want a milk cow in the worst way, but I can’t afford to feed one."
Goats are a good alternative and the butterfat content of the milk is higher. They take less space to pasture, are much cheaper to feed and way easier to milk. I decided on goats after getting kicked, peed and pooped on by the cow. No fun, to say the least. :)
Wish I could get milk for $1.99/gallon ... the cheapest price around here is $4.29 at Sam's Club, but the local grocery has put it on sale for $3.99 from time-to-time.
Take care.
No, it's not a bad thing. It's a good thing that you can, to the extent we still can, live as you please and for reasons of your own.
Excuse me now as I'm calling the cops to tell them Laskowski's growing pot right in his window. :-)
Haha! Looks like carrots to me! ;-)
Goats happily feed themselves granted the opportunity and occasionally find a way when you dont grant it. Goats are cheaper to feed. The food they prefer does not put them at competition for resources you may wish to use for other animals. Goats are easier to handle. Goats are relatively easy to train for light draft and pack work giving you a constant and convenient labor companion. Goats give better tasting milk.
They do have some drawbacks but its something to try in the meanwhile...
Signed
a happy goat owner
I'm not sure it's fair to take advantage of those in need of psychiatric help.
Abnormal price spikes or natural disasters could conceivably cause interruptions in supply chains (which presently have very little slack) even for those outside the affected area - a 30 day supply of absolute essentials is not a particularly loony thing to aim for. Keeping all guns in good repair, and properly storing ammunition are likewise sane investments, for a variety of reasons.
And if you have a backyard, it should not take the threat of disaster to see that a vegetable garden could be beneficial. By no means should people be preparing everything necessary to insulate themselves from the world (that is no way to live, in constant fear), providing some cushioning is OK.
I have to agree with you in the end, although I find their reasoning to be rather poor.
I also wish I could get milk for $1.99 a gallon. It has come down a bit in the past 2 weeks or so, but I still paid $3.79 for the store brand on sale earlier in the week.
“We’re living in very interesting times, economically speaking.”
Our economy has to be destroyed before we can merge with Mexico and Canada and adopt the Amero. OPEC is only to happy to assist in the destruction of the Infidel Dogs and make a huge profit also.
It’s so easy to blame it all on the stupid American consumer and give political and financial interests a pass.
Alcohol and firearms....works for me....
Anyone notice the glowing real estate news this week about house booms in places like Charlotte, NC, McAllen, TX, St. Louis, MO...
Just another way to get gullible middle-class people out of the cities so the rich can take over their prime properties.
Think that's not happening??? What do you make of Rosie O'Donnell, Christine Aguellera, and other Hollyflake stars buying ocean front property in Florida while Al *the buffoon" Gore was spewing his fatally flawed research on global warming aka climate change while counting the millions he made off those movies. (The oceans were suppose to cover Florida...s pfffft)
How can we make money of these left-wing, liberal, tree-hugging, animals are more important than humans, nitwits indeed?
When the crunch comes....Go take their stuff.
To bad my tomatoes aren’t worth that much!
Prime properties??? You know, it is really a matter of preference and priorities. I will take 40 acres in the woods any day of the week over a $4 million place in the city.
If that classifies me as a sucker or nitwit in your opinion, so be it. Pfffft indeed.
It is extremely disturbing to see members of a conservative website slamming people for living conservatively, their politics notwithstanding (not that I saw any direct mention of their politics in the first place).
When did self-sufficiency and reliance become a mental disorder?
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