I was having a very slow conversation with Stephanie in AR over the weekend and she brought up an important part of what most of us don't pay enough attention to in our preps.
Beans, Bandaids, and bullets will keep any animal alive. Hell, you will probably even live longer under that regimen. But what is it you wish to be during your life? If your entire existence is structured around the military style need for firearms and an itchy trigger finger, then I hope that you never come into my neck of the clear cut, you are little better than the barbarians who sacked Rome.
As Steph sez', beauty should be one of the B's. So preps should include the life of the mind as well as the basic's of existence. An animal is supremely suited for survival, if you don't prepare for the life of the mind, your mind and your ethics will starve and wither, leaving you a well-armed, well-fed animal.
So, start filling up your essential library. Erasmus and Luther, Epicurus and Epictetus, good copies of the bible and the Upanishads. If you can afford it, the Encyclopedia Britannica Great Books are usually very reasonably priced in used book stores. I would very strongly urge you to buy an old textbook in art history and appreciation. Heck, buy some watecolors and start learning.
You have to look long and hard at what you wish to become. If SHTF, will you be a Roman or a Senone?
3 comments:
I'll do what I've always wanted to do... Build things. I love to build things! Especially "unorthodox" things that don't "conform" to societal norms.
Excellent post, right on the money.
Everyone's got bullets. But not everyone has childrens toys, literature, and a painting kit!
Wow- good thinking. I enjoy the reading, of almost any book or magazine, and do oil paint and love working in the shop or putting things together. But most of all, the cameras and writing- hopefully when TSHits all those interests survive with me.
Shy
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