What happened to the good old American dream of growing up, going out on your own, getting married, establishing your own household, working a good job for many years, then retiring to those 'golden years'? Where has it gone? What has happened to honesty, integrity, caring about your neighbor, honoring the family, and putting in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay? Where is patriotism and pride in our country? We have let our country change before our very eyes into something 'suddenly' unrecognizable.
Frank and I have talked about this many times. Most people in our position are slowing down and sitting back. We have never been busier, learned more, and pushed harder. Now it's - What else do I need to prepare before the collapse? It doesn't matter if you are young or old, rich or poor, when the time comes, we all need to be prepared to the best of our ability. We all need to be able to fall back on our spiritual, emotional and physical preparations in such a way that we will have some level of stability and sanity when life is no longer recognizable.
How many people have you tried to talk to about preparing for a 'disaster/collapse' lately? Do most of them still just stare at you like you are from another planet? We heard a very interesting comment a few years back about gardening that we recall regularly. "Why would I want to do that [garden] when I can go to the store and buy it?" If you respond with something like, "What if something happens and there is no store?" The usual reaction is a symptom of the 'that won't happen here' syndrome.
There are vast portions of our current society in which we choose not to participate. Many people we have met do not understand how or why we choose to live the way we do. We're just a strange anomaly. There is no shared level of experience or purpose that we can discuss and that makes people uncomfortable.
The labeling of those who choose the more 'old fashioned' way of work, patriotism and providing for oneself is rather ominous. How did family, hard work and patriotism turn into undesirable traits? How did pride in a job well done - actually working - whether at home or at a place of employment, become a beacon for ridicule or worse?
What happened to normal? Why do people like us cause that look of consternation? For us, it always has been so.
Until next time - Fern
