L'inverno viene

Winter is coming. My Grandpa used to say this all the time when harvest was on. Anyone who has worked a harvest on a truck farm knows that it is up early and to bed late. Well folks, you might want to think about that.

TEOTWAWKI is a difficult concept to put your arms around. But what we are doing now is placing our bets on how the play will end. Even the folks who are ignoring everything are making their bet, they are betting that everything will return to a nice carmel-coated America of the past, with full shelves and money to burn.

If you are reading this, the chances are you take a different slant on the issue. I have grown to respect Dragon and Mayberry's opinion on things, though I take a different slant on the world. Dragon, Selous Scout, and Mayberry seem to be more mistrustful of human nature than I am. Truth of the matter is, this trust in human nature may very well be the death of me, but I am not sure that I can reconcile the ruthlessness that is needed should they be right with my beliefs in Christian ethics.

What I think has to happen is for the current financial and commercial systems to flat out break. I also think that this is what we are currently experiencing. The financial system is under serious attack, and the underlying commercial system is weakened. I feel that these two stages of collapse will be behind us within a year. The financial system is not a huge loss, the thieving bastards will get what they deserve, and to a certain extent, we will all find out that we have been, to a greater or lesser degree, part of the thieving bastard category.

The collapse commercial system will be a little harder. Matter of fact, it will be a lot harder. Getting the basics will become a priority. Getting the fluff will be impossible and a fond memory. Folks will have to start working as groups here. This is where you will create your circle of help and start hammering it into shape. It will be a lot of little things, sharing extra vegetables, working together canning, having stone soup parties, walking the neighborhood watch.

But this collapse will allow us to clean out the poison of banks, corporations and their slaves. I have read in the past that while a lot of slaves in the old South fought bitterly for their freedom and won it, there were as many slaves that supported their masters. This concept is beyond me, but it did exist. Similar divides were noted during our own revolutionary war. The Tories outnumbered the Patriots for a great deal of the war. It took a while to put a spine into a lot of people.

How we will break the commercial and corporate interests that are trying to enslave us is to bankrupt them. They are creatures of lucre, not honor. But the cleansing will not be fun, and it will be painful. Be careful, keep your wits about you, and keep your options open. Winter is coming.