The push to be self-sufficient

Now that summer has, we hoped, arrived (one never knows in north Idaho), I'm rushing to get the garden in. I've finished our strawberry beds and planted 200 bare-root strawberries. Next will be raspberries and blueberries. Vegetables. Hopefully boxes for new fruit trees. Etc.

I have a black thumb, so gardening is a struggle for me. In my humble opinion, it's much easier to raise livestock. But regardless, if we're pushing to make this farm as self-sufficient as possible, clearly gardening must be high on our list of priorities.

This "push" is becoming stronger. I don't like what I'm reading in the news.

Maybe it's because we've been self-employed for the last 18 years, but because our financial foundation has always been precarious, we've learned to value independence and self-sufficiency. A job can disappear. So can our wholesale customers. Nothing is steady; everything is subject to shifts and changes. So we've learned to hang on with the tenacity of barnacles (which produce the strongest glue in nature -- betcha didn't know that!) when it comes to clinging to our rural life and our dreams of producing most or all of what we eat, ourselves.

But it's not just food that concerns us, it's finances. When we first moved to Idaho eight years ago, we searched exhaustively for a piece of land and a house which met our criteria. Eventually we narrowed the choices down to two possibilities: our current home, and a gorgeous place on thirty acres with a year-round creek. But the other location was $80,000 more expensive. At the time our business was doing well and we could have afforded the other place. But we knew finances were shiftable things and we didn't want to put ourselves in a position of being enslaved to a mortgage higher than we could comfortably afford.

That financial caution has served us well as the economy has tanked. I am astounded -- truly astounded -- that our home woodcraft business still has customers. Because I keep expecting those customers to disappear, it has made us doubly cautious with our spending. If we're going to spend money, we will spend it on something we feel will push us toward greater self-sufficiency. Like a Jersey heifer. Like 200 bareroot strawberry plants. Like a hay barn. Like other things we have bought or plan to buy.

We are not the only ones expressing concerns about the economy. Finally, at last, the mainstream media is beginning to admit it as well. CNBC reports that "an increasing number, some 61 percent [of people polled], say they don't expect to return to their respective pre-recession lifestyles until the spring of 2014, if ever."

It's the "if ever" I find eerie.

Wayne Allyn Root had a sobering essay called Why the Greatest Depression of All Time Has Begun. (I quoted him in my latest WND column.) In it he says (about the economic downturn), "Here's where the story gets downright frightening. This time the results are going to be dramatically worse than 1929. This time we are facing The Greatest Depression ever. Why? Because The Great Depression had NONE of problems and obligations we are now facing.

• In 1929 America was not $100 trillion in debt and unfunded liabilities.
• In 1929, most of our states were not bankrupt, insolvent and dependent on the federal government to survive.
• In 1929, we had far fewer government employees living off taxpayers.
• In 1929, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid didn’t exist. The federal government had no such obligations threatening to consume the entire federal budget within a few years.
• In 1929, there was no such thing as welfare, food stamps, aid to dependent children, or English as a second language programs.
• In 1929, we had 150 million citizens with a strong work ethic.
• In 1929, we had an education system that was the envy of the world.
• In 1929 children had hope for the future. Today they are hopeless, helpless, and clueless – an entire generation that only knows drugs, gangs, rappers, government handouts, teen pregnancy- and it goes downhill from there.
• In 1929 taxes were much lower.

Do you get the picture? Disaster looms. We are staring at the Greatest Depression ever.

In other words, a future economic depression will be infinitely worse than the 1930's Depression because people lack a work ethic, a moral base, and the sense of independence of our great-grandparents; and because our own government has sold us down the river into economic slavery. Real cheery, yes?

This month's issue of the magazine Whistleblower (WND's monthly publication) highlights preparedness. I was asked to be a sort of editor-at-large for this issue. This meant suggesting topics as well as providing a few of my own articles. To its eternal credit, WND has never shied from the subject of preparedness, nor scoffed at those involved in the movement.

But others are not as generous. A query came across my computer a few days ago as follows:

Seeking people for one-hour Reality TV special dealing with people who overstock food. Among the subjects we are looking for: people who stockpile food, who have more food in the pantry/fridge/freezer than they will ever use, people who cannot resist a deal at the grocery even if they do not need more items nor have room for them, and the like.

By these criteria, we fit the bill in spades. Let's face it, we all know to whom this query is directed. It's directed at those kooky Preppers, the ones who (cough) "hoard" food. Ha ha, isn't that funny, look at all the tin-hat wearers who overstock food! What a bunch of dingbats! They even deserve their own reality show!

That's the scary part. A crash is coming, and the various media outlets, the government, and the talking heads are ignoring it... or worse (but more likely) lying about it. It can no longer be avoided. Even the supposed "tough-love" fixes being floated by the republican leadership will do nothing to stop it.

So we'll keep hearing about "the danger of a double-dip recession" or that our current troubles are just a "speed bump." And we'll continue to hear made-up unemployment numbers and watch the stock market bubble on a diet of imaginary money from the Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, we'll continue to push toward self-sufficiency and ignore the barbs of those who want to put us in reality TV shows.

Prepare. Please.

ILLEGAL to have more than two weeks of food in the house...???

I received many fine comments on my last blog post on hoarding, but this one stopped me in my tracks:

My sister was visited by Childrens Social Services several years ago. An aquaintence had reported that she was hoarding food. CSS claimed it was illegal for her to have more than 2 wks of food in the house, or it would cause the children to have fear that a disaster and starvation was going to happen. Also, it was a symptom that my sister was mentally ill.

She contacted a lawyer. Storing (any amount) of shelf-stable food was NOT illegal where she was. Once CSS knew she had a lawyer involved they backed off, but the aquaintence still tells anyone they both know that she is a "hoarder" and mentally unstable. 

For many years I've felt a deep and abiding loathing for Child Protective Services.  While of course they do rescue some children from horrible conditions, many other times they rip apart happy families for no better excuse than a vague "tip."  But to call anyone with "more than two weeks of food in the house" mentally ill or unstable is beyond ridiculous - it's EVIL.

My $0.02.

Hoarding

I have a pet peeve. I hate the word “hoarding.”

Let me be more specific: I hate the term “hoarding” as applied toward Preppers.

Hoarding implies that by buying some extra bottles of shampoo, we are doing so at the expense of others. It implies that we are somehow wrong to store rice and beans to feed our families during hard times. That by storing food, we are literally taking it out of the mouths of others. It implies that there are already shortages, and we are taking more than our fair share. That by ramping up our own food storage, we are causing others to go hungry.

I'm sure you'll agree that none of these implications are true. We who are preparing are, by definition, doing so during "easy" times. Right now food and other resources are abundant and relatively cheap. Virtually everyone can do something to prepare for future shortages. Most just choose not to. And make no mistake, lack of preparedness is, for most people in this country, a choice.

Hoarding is an ugly word and, I believe, profoundly untrue as it applies toward those who are concerned enough about the current and future economic situation in our country that we are laying in supplies of food and other resources.

How many people, when they hear a rumor about a shortage of sugar, will go stock up on hundreds of pounds of sugar to the point that rumor becomes truth? I clearly remember such an incident from my childhood. Also toilet paper. Also coffee. Also (my husband remembers this from his early boyhood) vacuum tubes. (As in, for televisions.)

But Preppers have no need to engage in a run on sugar or toilet paper or any other resource…because they already have adequate stores, thank you. This is because they had the foresight to stock up on necessities long before anyone ever dreamed a shortage could happen. This is because they believe only by having adequate stores of resources can they avoid becoming one of the stampeding crowd, one of the desperate horde, one of the victims of violence because someone else wants the same bag of sugar or package of toilet paper.

It’s well documented that a resource doesn’t become “valuable” until it becomes scarce. How much does a pound of salt cost at the grocery store? $0.59? Imagine if salt was suddenly scarce. How much would that pound cost?

It’s a simple matter of supply and demand. By definition, Preppers are people who accumulate – “hoard,” if you will – resources when supplies are high and demand (and prices) are low.

What makes me furious is the reaction and attitude toward Preppers when these resources suddenly becomes scarce. How easy is it to blame someone who has a room full of toilet paper when there is none to be had at the store? Why won’t they share, dammit? It doesn’t matter that the Preppers bought TP when it was $5 for a 24-pack and no one else wanted it. I WANT SOME TOILET PAPER. IT’S NOT FAIR (kicking heels) THAT YOU WON’T GIVE ME SOME!!!

Why? Why isn't it FAIR? What's "fair" about trying to force me to share my resources with you when all you did was pooh-pooh my "hoarding" when you could have been doing the same thing? Can you see the childishness of this reaction?

Most Preppers are not rich. God knows we're not. We’re just ordinary folks who see the gathering storm clouds on the horizon and are doing what we can to provide for our families if hard times hit. Naturally we’re viewed with condescending tolerance and not a little laughter at our expense…until TSHTF.

Suddenly that tolerance and humor becomes frustration, outrage, and even violence if Preppers don’t share their store of resources. When asked to explain the logic behind the outrage, the Unprepared generally fall back upon the indignant accusation that the Preppers are “hoarding.”

I see. So why didn’t the Unprepared “hoard” when they, too, had the chance?

What follows is a stuttering list of excuses. Lack of money. Lack of storage. Lack of interest. Lack of foresight. Lack lack lack.

What it translates to, folks, is denial. The Unprepared refuse to become Preppers because they simply cannot, or will not, grasp the idea that anything could interrupt their comfortable lives. Even those who have lived through hardship and deprivation – the aftermath of hurricanes, violent urban riots, war, acts of terrorism – cannot extrapolate into the future and see that deprivation can happen again. And again and again and again. At any time. Totally without warning.

So why do, say, homeowners in Florida not keep plywood, food, water, duct tape, and other resources in their garage for the inevitable hurricane? Denial. Maybe they don’t think bad things could ever happen to them. (It always happens to someone else, right?) Maybe they think someone else will protect them. (The government. Natch.) Maybe they think God will look after them. (It was J.G. Holland who said, “God gives every bird its food but does not throw it into the nest.”) Whatever their excuse, the fact remains that when a tragedy strikes, the Unprepared are caught with their drawers down – and then they’re angry at those who aren’t. The Unprepared line up at Home Depot for plywood and then get angry with their neighbors who knew enough to keep plywood in the garage between hurricanes. Oh, and food and water too.

This isn’t to imply Preppers can’t be affected by tragedies. Of course they can. I know someone with a serious interest in preparedness whose wife died of cancer. He wasn’t “prepared” for that. The rain falls on the just and the unjust, and as with anyone affected by a loss, all he could do was pick himself up, grieve, and get on with life.

But Preppers are doing their best to mitigate disaster. It’s all any of us can do.

No one objects to Preppers “hoarding” food during easy times. We’re viewed with tolerant amusement at our hobby of bucketing beans and rice, at canning every vegetable that comes our way, at buying a few extra tubes of toothpaste. Folks usually view us as a little quirky but otherwise harmless. After all, we’re spending our own money and not asking anyone else to provide those resources for us.

It’s only post-TSHTF that our efforts are suddenly viewed with hostility as “hoarding” because, gee whiz, we’re reluctant to distribute our “hoard” to every grasshopper who demands a share.

“The time to gather emergency supplies,” as a reader pointed out, “is when there isn't an emergency. There will be more supplies available for everybody that way.” In fact, who knows? If there’s enough of a demand for resources, the supplies may ramp up their production to meet the demand, thus assuring plenty of resources for everyone. (Until the bleep hits the fan, of course.)

Hope this clears up any misconception on “hoarding.”