Posted on 04/22/2020 4:23:26 AM PDT by Kaslin
My neighbors hunt. They can survive in the forest, hills, lakes, and rivers, here in Indiana. They understand the world of nature, its vicissitudes and savagery. Appreciating its transcendent beauty and cadences, they also accept its fierce cruelties. They do not worship nature. They seek reconciliation with it that they may endure and protect their loved ones. They admire the natural world, its towering majesty and microscopic complexity, but they do not hold it on a pedestal, pristine, and viewed from a distance. Theirs’ is a realistic appraisal of nature and its vagaries, and what they require to survive.
Coming from the Bronx, I was acquainted with riding the subway or bus or navigating the busy and often treacherous streets of New York. There I learned to survive in the city, but I knew nothing of hunting, fishing, or surviving in nature. Coastal elites have disdain for those schooled in such things. They assume that food, water, and other necessities and amenities just appear. They lack awareness of the complex grids, structures, and platforms that maintain their comforts. The sources of the electricity that powers their computers and air-conditioning. The gasoline that fuels their cars. They do not appreciate those who make these daily, secular miracles possible, the commonplace wonders of modern, electronic civilization.
Many Hoosiers preserve food. Some steam or pressure can. Or dehydrate, pickle, freeze-dry, smoke, or salt items. Knowing how to farm, they cope with caterpillars, aphids, and cutworms and guard against hedgehogs, fungi, and lack of rain.
Some have gas tanks and generators. They have water filters, propane stoves, purifying tablets, first-aid kits, pick-up trucks, drills, hammers, and wrenches. They can repair a car, a machine, or a leaking pipe.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Country Boy Can Survive
https://youtu.be/3cQNkIrg-Tk
Used to be able to fix a car, before the algorithms took over.
Finally caught up with hubby, he likes the bells and whistles as a Senior, but misses tinkering on the pre 1970 cars. Has to stick to the house stuff. Not much has changed there. He can still do the minor electronic trouble shooting, taught it for nearly 40 yrs.
My son-in-law works on cars as a hobby. He can fix the new ones, but likes rebuilding the old classics.
Excellent summary on what is wrong with this country. We have become a nation of spoiled, shallow, ignorant children, who believe that our prosperity and security are absolute. The truth is it can all be gone in an instant and most people are totally unprepared.
Wonderful read...all true.
If I lived in the country and had room, I would have a restored car or truck with no electronics. Ready to roll but not a daily drive.
While Dr. Moss (the author) is up against some stiff competition (VDH, et al), that is one of the best essays EVER !
Truth therein.
Points and condensers weren’t all the fun folks would like to remember them to be.
It is a well written paean to country folk.
But...
In a complex technological society, most of those urban folks have jobs that contribute to our nation in complex ways. On the other hand, many have simply found ways to game the system.
Same deal in GA.
Hunting and fishing can support a few million people. To feed hundreds of millions, we need modern agriculture. Pesticides and fertilizer from modern plants are what have kept grain and meat prices down to the point that they take up 10% of our household budgets vs the 40% they did a century ago.
https://www.valuepenguin.com/how-much-we-spend-food
GF and I were having this same discussion last night as she was cutting my hair. I'd ordered clippers from Amazon and received my first haircut in over 2 months. I desperately needed it.
I commented on how much people were re-discovering things that they should be doing for themselves. Haircuts are a basic and simple one. I've been cooking daily and luckily for me, I really enjoy cooking. GF says I'm quite good at it.
I fixed my 2003 GMC Envoy that needed all new coil packs, plugs, wires and an oil change a few weeks back. I'm quite technically adept so I've been fixing friends and neighbor's computers, something which I said I'd never do again some ten years ago.
Fixed my clothes dryer myself last month, learned how to sew buttons with my heavily arthritic fingers and more.
I hear more and more about people re-learning/re-discovering the things they can and should be doing for themselves. It's one of the few bright spots that's coming out of all this China virus bullshit.
Ain't that the truth!! Between that and getting the six pack on my '70 AMX set properly it was frustrating as all get-out to get those set right for me.
Re-build an engine? Fine. Set points & adjust a carb right was a real PITA for me. It wasn't until an old friend (now deceased) taught me to do it by ear that I couldn't do it at all.
It just seemed to me that every time you “pushed it really hard” you had to go home and re file the points to make it run smooth again. I used to drive around with several old sets in the glove box.
If you really want to see how the average liberal would fare living fending for themselves, living off the grid, watch a few episodes of “Naked and Afraid”.
Even the ones that claim to know all about hunting, fishing, trapping, building a fire, shelter, know nothing about it.
Most of them survive by drinking water and starving for 21 days.
I can only think of a couple that could survive long term if need be.
Most are dumbasses that don’t have a clue.
Hey! He’s talking about me! I moved to the State of Indiana 11 years ago...and do practically everything listed n the article!
Except with high speed internet and Amazon delivery there's no longer much reason for them to live in a dirty and polluted virus/disease/crime/druggie/homeless/communist zone. Most of them can now do their thing from a fresh air mountain villa or lakeside cabin.
For urban areas, worse than an EMP attack will be the EBT riots that follow.
I'm in the market to buy a 68-72 Corvette and if it still has a distributor the first thing I'm gonna do is replace it with electronic. I'm not going through that b.s. again.
Then again, if it's the original motor it's coming out, getting re-built and updated. If it's not the original motor I'm probably going to pull it and put in a crate motor and do all the updates to it (4 wheel disc brakes w/anti-lock, update suspension, etc..)
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