Why we prep
Here’s another reason why you – and your friends and family – should prep:
Coming to a town near you: Expert warns no-go zones are growing in America
The article above lists Cedar Riverside area of Minneapolis and Hamtramck, Michigan as two places where Muslim strongholds are being developed. No doubt there are many others around the country as well. But because the author is focused on Muslims, he doesn’t cover the other no-go zones being created in urban areas of the country, like many of the nation’s college campuses and some whole cities like Berkeley, California, where obvious Trump supporters face real threats of violence with minimal police protection. The number of such places and the incidences of violence directed at true conservatives and supporters of the alt-right are growing.
There’s a site I found, the Crowd Counting Consortium, that has begun compiling monthly statistics on all types of demonstrations, their estimated sizes, ostensible causes and arrests. The number of demonstrations is growing.
For the past couple of columns I’ve been pretty adamant that a major societal disruption is coming. Call it a civil war (or as the left and right fascists will say: a revolution). A whole bunch of commenters over the last two columns have already tried to define who the combatants will be: patriots versus fascists, communists against real Americans, good versus evil. But it’s too soon to be assigning poorly defined and slippery labels. The people in charge of the violent left and violent right are already subverting those terms to define their own followers as well as those who oppose them. Remember the lyrics from the old Who song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again: “… the party on the left is now the party on the right. …”
Just understand this: Whoever is in charge of these bands of useful idiots isn’t thinking left versus right, they’re thinking my power block versus yours. To them, terms like freedom, fascism, patriotism are simply tools to an end. The ultimate prize in this game of thrones isn’t a better country for these folks; it’s dictatorship.
And that’s one of the reasons we prep.
I keep trying to get to how to make a living when you move to a more rural location, but I keep getting sidetracked in trying to answer some of the comments. So starting today, I’m going to be more proactive by writing my replies directly in the commentary section below.
But I do want to address one point that is being repeated often. Moving out of the city is not running away and hiding. If it was, then the best tactic that the Army could use in a place like Kabul would be scattering the soldiers randomly throughout the city rather than developing a fortified position outside the city boundaries. Moving to the country means better area control and a likely increase in “friendlies” exclusively concentrated in that area. The troubles coming to the cities will reach out and touch all of us eventually; but when they do, knowing your ground when your opposition doesn’t, and having your own folk at your back, beats holing up in an apartment without power or water every time.
Enough of that for now. Let’s talk country jobs.
As I said last week, if you can take your job with you via the Internet by telecommuting or online commerce, great! However, the next best thing is to bring a job with rural demand along with you when you change locations.
High or low, city or country, there are some skill sets that are needed everywhere. Our local hospitals are always chronically short of nurses. I’ve yet to live anywhere in the country that doesn’t need more good mechanics. Truck drivers, daycare providers, equipment operators, classroom assistants, teachers, cooks … the list goes on and on, and these jobs are all just as necessary in the hinterlands as they are in the Big Fruit. Sure they pay less, but the cost of living is less as well … and peace of mind is a valuable commodity.
But what do you do if your city job won’t translate, or if you lose your Internet employment? No matter what situation you find yourself in, you can prepare for it by doing one very important thing: Get yourself quickly involved with your new community.
What? More of that community stuff? Yep. See, the secret to finding a job in a rural environment is to quickly become a part of that environment.
Let’s say you already know where you want to be, and you’ve already bought your dream land or you’re actively looking. If you’re spending any time in the area (and you should be), grab a copy of the local newspaper. Check out the help-wanted section. Pretty sparse, right? Well, that’s because for every job listed (usually for those places that are required by law to post job openings, even if they’ve already been filled), there are dozens of other employment opportunities that will never see the newspaper.
This is something my city-dwelling friends have to understand. If you’re part of a country community, you’re connected to the residents of your area in a way that’s much closer than you are in an urban environment. As an example, let’s say you live in a rural county with a population of 10,000. Odds are you’re on at least a “howdy” relationship with about 500 of those folks. What that means is if you don’t know someone who’s in the county that’s looking to hire, a large percentage of your acquaintances do.
So as soon as possible (even before you make the move is a good idea), get “clubbed up” by joining a local fraternal organization, by finding a church, by volunteering at the county fair or by helping out at the senior center. I’m especially partial to the fraternal organization concept. Unlike such organizations in the cities, most Elks, Eagles, Kiwanis and Moose clubs are still populated by the movers and shakers of the community. Because of my fraternal associations, both as a member and an occasional officer, I’m friends with the county commissioners, the sheriff, the local hospital CEO, most of the major area employers, and many of the local business owners. I made those acquaintances and was considered a “regular” within the first year of my arrival in this county (something that can take you the rest of your life if you don’t try to mix). I’ve also met a number of local preppers in the process. I have absolutely no doubt that if I needed a job, one mention on the meeting floor would see me employed within the week.
So that’s all for now. Until next week, start planning your move and check out ways to get involved in your new area … because that is one way to get prepared.
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