Posted on 08/18/2010 6:07:49 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
(Many people see political upheaval and natural disasters as clear signs that civilization is doomed.)
From the outside, Jerry Erwin's Oregon home is a nondescript house with a manicured front lawn and little to differentiate it from those of his neighbors.
But tucked away out of sight in his backyard are the signs of his preparations for doomsday, a catastrophic societal collapse that Erwin, 45, now believes is likely within his lifetime.
"I've got, under an awning, stacks of firewood, rain catching in barrels, I've got a shed with barbed concertina wire, like the military uses," he told AFP.
He and his wife also have also stockpiled thousands of rounds of ammunition and enough food for about six months.
"Several years ago I worked on paying off the house, replacing all the windows, and just very recently, I'm proud to say, we've replaced all our exterior doors with more energy-efficient ones, with as much built-in security features as I could get," he told AFP.
"Plus I'm going to be adding some more structural improvements to the door frames to make it hopefully virtually impossible to take a battering ram to them."
Erwin and others like him in the United States and elsewhere see political upheaval and natural disasters as clear signs that civilization is doomed.
"We're hitting on all cylinders as far as symptoms that have led other great powers to decline or collapse: resource depletion, damage to the environment, climate change, those are the same things that affected other great societies," he said.
For Erwin, the decline is irreversible and the best approach is to prepare for the inevitable.
His pessimism is shared by a wide range of people, from left-wing environmentalists who believe climate change and capitalist greed will doom human society to Christian fundamentalists who think sin will do the same.
They label themselves "preppers," "doomers" and "survivalists," and take a variety of different approaches to the same question: How best to prepare for the coming apocalypse?
Jim Rawles, who Erwin describes as "the patron saint of survivalism," prefers an isolationist, Christian-influenced approach.
He homeschooled his children, declines to say where he lives, and advises readers of his website survivalblog.com to "relocate to a safe area and live there year-round."
"When planning your retreat house, think: medieval castle," he adds, extolling the benefits of using sandbags to protect any new home.
Rawles, like many on the most conservative end of the survivalist spectrum, is also anti-tax, pro-gun rights, and suspicious of anything that smacks of socialism.
But the survivalist movement also includes left-wing community activists, who are devoted to living off the land and have never fired a weapon, and people like Chris Martenson, who quit a job with a six-figure salary that he felt was "an unnecessary diversion from the real tasks at hand."
He began growing his own food and developed a "Crash Course" that urges people to better prepare for societal instability. He also took over management of his investments and boasts of a 166 percent return on his portfolio.
For Martenson, the wake-up call was the September 11, 2001 attacks, when he felt gripped by uncertainty and totally unprepared.
Erwin had always felt that society would eventually disintegrate, but he and many other U.S. survivalists say the dysfunctional response to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina was what spurred them to action.
"I thought, OK, things are not going to get better... maybe this society, our civilization, the American empire, will collapse during my lifetime," Erwin said.
For John Milandred, no single event pushed him to leave his suburban home and set up a farm in Oklahoma.
"We just got fed up of working all the time to pay bills and not accomplishing anything," he said.
A member of the American Preppers Network, Milandred said he and his wife aspired to "grow our own foods and be self sufficient... to live like the pioneers, like our great-grandparents."
It is unclear how many people subscribe to the lifestyle, but there are hundreds of websites devoted to the movement, and Erwin's surburban-self-reliance.com attracts visitors from around the world.
The global financial crisis has increased interest in survivalism "bigtime," Erwin said, but he feels sorry for latecomers to the movement.
"We'll help them if we can," he said. "But a lot of people are climbing on board at the last minute and its going to be hard for them."
Dang. Nice. Most would be happy to have just one ;)
I have about 3 months or so of nearly everything to
just stay in the house,,,
There are 4 other vets in our little area and 10 young’uns
that have 4X4’s/etc.,,,
Deer huntin’ crowd,,,
If there are problems I would think you could follow the
trail of riot's in thr 60’s or the “King” riot in LA,,,
Trying to drive through a riot area is a very bad idea...
I've given this a lot of thought and I TOTALLY AGREE.
I will add, it's not important just to be stationary, but to be stationary in the right community. I believe the ideal community is a small town (<10k population) with only a handful of roads leading in and out. I've been researching what I consider to be the best locations, and will be happy to discuss those with anyone via private message.
“The great urban raiders” will, if they ever materialize, will likely be the social detritus gathered around the race mongers like the “Black Muslims”, the La Raza” crowd, ad nauseam.
Far better to have some neighbors with Viet Nam experience, or any other military experience than an “great urban raider” on your side.
I further suspect that many of the people in the Big Sh*tty minority areas are not as supportive of the wanna-be urban raiders as certain race mongers like the Wrights and the Farrakans want us to believe.
“Mobile is the desperate last resort.”
I think it depends. Depends on the threat and where its coming from.
I agree. Location, location, location.
I live in a defensible valley more than 6 hour drive from any big city, if you don’t count Redding.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
I’ve seen how long it takes trained people to go across concertina wire. First guy dove on the wire, rest ran across him, last guy over pulled the first guy. Chain link fence with barbed wire on top was just as easy.
Of course most people would find it a little more difficult. I think barbed wire or thorn bushes that can catch clothing to be valuable in slowing people down.
My emergency water supply would come from a pond. Since pond water is not your standard-issue water, as it contains all sorts of stuff, I would like some advice as regards the type (including brand name) of water purification tablets that I could use as I dip out water from it. Thanks.
Its always good to have an alternate spot. Just in case.
You can get water purification tabs in many places on the net. They make the water taste terrible and don’t have a super long shelf life. I’d recommend a filter system. If you have the cash a Berkeley Water filter is good. They aren’t something you can pack but work great in the home or camp for anything except viruses. A portable filter is on my list as well.
You can also build your own filter. Lots of good info here http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/water/
Don’t rule out rain barrels either.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
At our old house we had Bougainvillea which were pretty but not edible. Thorns were up to two inches long.
Perhaps the Bougainvillea on the outside row and blackberry on the inside so you can get the berries?
I read an article not too long ago on Survival Blog about this very topic...natural barriers. They also recommended bamboo, planted closely together, along the perimeter, presumably as an anti-vehicle and anti-horseback barrier. The great thing about bamboo is it can be used to make tools, housing, etc. Of course, it grows like the dickens, so until TSHTF, you'd have your hands full controlling it. Believe it or not, it even grows in the mountains here in Idaho.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Very well said!
Berkefeld water purifier. You pour water in the top, porcelain, charcoal and siver purify just about everything bad out of it, and it collects in the container underneath. I’ve had one for 11 years. I love it. Used in 3rd world countries for filtering really poor water.
If the water has visible gunk in it, it’s advisable to strain it first, say through a tee shirt or something. Then the Berkefeld filters last longer.
PS - don’t get the kind with lights in it. Just the plain stainless steel housing. They now have different sizes. If I had money I’d get another as backup. You can get replacement filters. They last for much longer than they now say. The filters are cleanable.
Pleasant Hill Grain has the best prices that I’ve seen and the people are good to work with (in my experience).
http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/
I answered Possum up there before seeing your comment. I’ve had a Berkefeld for 11 years and wish I could buy a back up just in case. I do have a couple of spare filters. They make good tasting water.
survive bump
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