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Preparedness
Preparedness
by
Adam Taggart
by
charleshughsmith
Executive Summary
- Understanding the difference between Artificial and Economically-Viable Communities
- What to look for in a retreat community
- Why regional assets matter
- The importance of "path dependence" in a retreat location
If you have not yet read Part 1: Having A 'Retreat' Property Comes With Real Challenges available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
In Part 1, we considered the nature of security and independence, and found that the intuitively appealing remote cabin in the woods (RCITW) is actually highly insecure and does not reduce dependence on fragile global supply chains at all—it may well increase our dependence and vulnerability to disruptions.
Security is a function of an engaged community (eyes on the street, knowing one’s neighbors, reciprocity of caring) and occupancy. The remote cabin that’s rarely occupied is the acme of insecurity.
Here in Part 2, we’ll consider the qualities that create security and resilience in communities.
Artificial Communities vs. Economically Viable Communities
If we reckon a community is a collection of dwellings, we might be tempted to view all collections of dwellings as being roughly equal. This would be a great mistake, for communities divide very naturally into artificial communities and economically viable communities.
In artificial communities, security is poor and difficult/costly to improve. In economically viable communities, the multiple layers of stakeholders provide self-reinforcing homegrown security.
Artificial communities are consumer communities—they produce essentially nothing. Economically viable communities produce goods and services as a function of their natural-resource advantages (good soil, adequate water, river ports, coastal harbors, advantageous weather, etc.) and concentrations of capital (rail lines, banks, universities, an entrepreneurial culture supported by local government, etc.).
History has not been particularly kind to defensive strategies, which is what most artificial communities are. This is why…
Doing ‘Retreat’ Right
PREVIEW by charleshughsmithExecutive Summary
- Understanding the difference between Artificial and Economically-Viable Communities
- What to look for in a retreat community
- Why regional assets matter
- The importance of "path dependence" in a retreat location
If you have not yet read Part 1: Having A 'Retreat' Property Comes With Real Challenges available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
In Part 1, we considered the nature of security and independence, and found that the intuitively appealing remote cabin in the woods (RCITW) is actually highly insecure and does not reduce dependence on fragile global supply chains at all—it may well increase our dependence and vulnerability to disruptions.
Security is a function of an engaged community (eyes on the street, knowing one’s neighbors, reciprocity of caring) and occupancy. The remote cabin that’s rarely occupied is the acme of insecurity.
Here in Part 2, we’ll consider the qualities that create security and resilience in communities.
Artificial Communities vs. Economically Viable Communities
If we reckon a community is a collection of dwellings, we might be tempted to view all collections of dwellings as being roughly equal. This would be a great mistake, for communities divide very naturally into artificial communities and economically viable communities.
In artificial communities, security is poor and difficult/costly to improve. In economically viable communities, the multiple layers of stakeholders provide self-reinforcing homegrown security.
Artificial communities are consumer communities—they produce essentially nothing. Economically viable communities produce goods and services as a function of their natural-resource advantages (good soil, adequate water, river ports, coastal harbors, advantageous weather, etc.) and concentrations of capital (rail lines, banks, universities, an entrepreneurial culture supported by local government, etc.).
History has not been particularly kind to defensive strategies, which is what most artificial communities are. This is why…
by
Chris Martenson
Executive Summary
- Why most of those around you will not prepare, despite the obvious risks
- Why the risks are bigger now than most realize
- Positioning yourself ahead of the trend
- The steps for prudent preparation
If you have not yet read Part 1: When The Rich Become Preppers, It’s Time To Worry available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
People Aren’t Rational
Unfortunately, very few people make decision based on logic and/or rational calculations. Most go by emotion. If their pre-existing belief system is confirmed by something they will do it (or buy it, or learn it) but if not, then forget it. Data doesn’t matter.
I am sure you’ve all encountered this in your own lives, perhaps by trying to spread the warnings of The Crash Course to otherwise intelligent, thoughtful people who somehow just cannot even bring themselves to confront the troubling data.
Not because they are unable intellectually, or even that the data is all that troubling, but usually because their belief system cannot digest the information contained therein. One of the more dominant belief systems out there is that “the government will take care of me/us.”
This is not at all surprising given that we are raised in a very structured and authoritarian educational system. Most of us that is. The repetition of believing that a right answer always exists at the front of the room subtly reinforces the idea that you can trust in the hierarchies present in your culture.
And so it’s not much of a stretch to then invest that same comfort of knowing in the hierarchy of the political structure, or government, too. To attack or undermine the idea that there is a large, benevolent set of public institutions out there is to undermine the very basis of faith in authority.
That’s a biggie for most people, and not easily dislodged. This is why it can be so difficult to get someone to even consider storing an extra months’ worth of food in their otherwise barren pantry. It has nothing to do with cost or space…it has to do with the new belief system that would have to be installed first which is something along the lines of “maybe the system I trust so completely is slightly untrustworthy, and the people operating are not really as in control of it as I like to think.”
And even then, it’s not that simple. Dislodging a belief system and installing a new one is not an intellectual process, but an emotional one. Those are expensive for people under even the best of circumstances but really quite difficult if one lives in a country where emotions are clamped down, not permitted, drugged away, or otherwise subjugated and not allow to flow freely.
The point of all this is to be able to rotate the cube a bit and ask what happens when a mass of people suddenly all decide that their existing belief system isn’t working out anymore?
The herd is now skittish as a result of the tensions which are, in my experience, as high as they have ever been across the social fabric.
Rich people are feeling nervous because…
Preparing Prudently
PREVIEW by Chris MartensonExecutive Summary
- Why most of those around you will not prepare, despite the obvious risks
- Why the risks are bigger now than most realize
- Positioning yourself ahead of the trend
- The steps for prudent preparation
If you have not yet read Part 1: When The Rich Become Preppers, It’s Time To Worry available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
People Aren’t Rational
Unfortunately, very few people make decision based on logic and/or rational calculations. Most go by emotion. If their pre-existing belief system is confirmed by something they will do it (or buy it, or learn it) but if not, then forget it. Data doesn’t matter.
I am sure you’ve all encountered this in your own lives, perhaps by trying to spread the warnings of The Crash Course to otherwise intelligent, thoughtful people who somehow just cannot even bring themselves to confront the troubling data.
Not because they are unable intellectually, or even that the data is all that troubling, but usually because their belief system cannot digest the information contained therein. One of the more dominant belief systems out there is that “the government will take care of me/us.”
This is not at all surprising given that we are raised in a very structured and authoritarian educational system. Most of us that is. The repetition of believing that a right answer always exists at the front of the room subtly reinforces the idea that you can trust in the hierarchies present in your culture.
And so it’s not much of a stretch to then invest that same comfort of knowing in the hierarchy of the political structure, or government, too. To attack or undermine the idea that there is a large, benevolent set of public institutions out there is to undermine the very basis of faith in authority.
That’s a biggie for most people, and not easily dislodged. This is why it can be so difficult to get someone to even consider storing an extra months’ worth of food in their otherwise barren pantry. It has nothing to do with cost or space…it has to do with the new belief system that would have to be installed first which is something along the lines of “maybe the system I trust so completely is slightly untrustworthy, and the people operating are not really as in control of it as I like to think.”
And even then, it’s not that simple. Dislodging a belief system and installing a new one is not an intellectual process, but an emotional one. Those are expensive for people under even the best of circumstances but really quite difficult if one lives in a country where emotions are clamped down, not permitted, drugged away, or otherwise subjugated and not allow to flow freely.
The point of all this is to be able to rotate the cube a bit and ask what happens when a mass of people suddenly all decide that their existing belief system isn’t working out anymore?
The herd is now skittish as a result of the tensions which are, in my experience, as high as they have ever been across the social fabric.
Rich people are feeling nervous because…
by
Chris Martenson
Historian and economist David Fleming undertook the writing of Lean Logic a grand vision that projected out the likely path of collapse for our currently unsustainable way of life, as well as the key success factors society will need to cultivate to come out the other side.
Following his death, his writing partner Shaun Chamberlin distilled the book's prime conclusions into the more accessible Surviving The Future: Culture, carnival, and capital in the aftermath of the market economy. Shaun, who has also been deeply involved with Rob Hopkins in the Transition Movement since its inception, stresses that localized communities that pursue developing as much independence from the central economy as possible will be the foundations for entering a sustainable, enjoyable future.
Shaun Chamberlin: Surviving The Aftermath Of The Market Economy
by Chris MartensonHistorian and economist David Fleming undertook the writing of Lean Logic a grand vision that projected out the likely path of collapse for our currently unsustainable way of life, as well as the key success factors society will need to cultivate to come out the other side.
Following his death, his writing partner Shaun Chamberlin distilled the book's prime conclusions into the more accessible Surviving The Future: Culture, carnival, and capital in the aftermath of the market economy. Shaun, who has also been deeply involved with Rob Hopkins in the Transition Movement since its inception, stresses that localized communities that pursue developing as much independence from the central economy as possible will be the foundations for entering a sustainable, enjoyable future.
by
bgarrett
by
JW
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