So... Now Preppers Must Prep for Civil War?

Answer: Sadly– yes.

I finally admitted to myself what it was that I was avoiding in my escapist fantasy binges, avoiding reality at all costs for weeks at a time…

There was my 5 month flare that knocked me on my ass, yes. And then simultaneously, I was processing the new political reality we’re all facing. And it was utterly overwhelming!

Part of my frustration-laced-with-fear THING that I was running from had to do with how limited I am to get anything done that requires either energy or money. I have very little of both. But I do have this deep-level brain processing going on so I don’t get to be blissfully unaware of shit.

Even John Michael Greer has pointed out that if we do a right/left–urban/rural civil war, it’s the ones with the guns who will win… and the right wingers are more armed than EVER and amassing stockpiles that peacenik Dems can’t match. The stats on that factoid are quite stark. The military itself is filled with more right-wing types than left-wing AND their OWN LEADERSHIP has stated that there is a great danger here of our democracy being dismantled by new minority whites wanting to cling to power in a world that’s been taking it away from them for decades (though by the rich white guys above them, not the lefties they are instructed to blame instead, but so goes this type of scapegoating– dictators and fascist and/or militaristic governments have been pulling this one on the soft-headed, frustrated masses for a couple of centuries now…)

The centrist Dems nominally in power now are not addressing this issue forcefully enough, instead choosing to stupidly hope that they can just gently reason people back to what we used to call “normal”.

Normal wasn’t really working to begin with. That’s why Trump came to power in the first place. You can only dick around huge populations so long before they bite back. And they did. I don’t blame them for being desperate enough to try ANYONE who said they’d listen to them and help them. It was an obvious lie, but sending a dick to fuck around with the establishment was highly satisfying to their injured egos, and then Trump and his cronies began dismantling our democracy and experimenting with a Dynastic Power thing– I think he wants to make America his own North Korea with him as the first godlike Kim figure, passing power to his fucked up whelps and so on.

However, even without Trump in particular, things have been rife for someone like him to grab the opportunity so many others have in similar periods in history, like Mussolini and, yes, that old bugaboo, Hitler. The propaganda flooding right-wing media these days is similar to things our own CIA has done to other countries to destabilize them so our rich guys could go in and steal resources, etc. Now it’s being used against us and succeeding very well!

Unfortunately, I think that means we only have a limited period of time to prepare. I’ve already spoken to Cat about what we need to do. She keeps dicking around and we don’t have time for that anymore! We’ve got to get ready for shit to go south in a big way. That means:

1. Getting the old mobile home dismantled and hauled away, and a new one set up on site– for rental and/or my sister. Right now, it appears that Sleep and Reese may rent it short-term as they look for property to buy near Heron Hold with money from her sister Rhonda’s divorce when that house gets sold. They have a plan and it includes us as expanded intentional community, which is what I’ve been reaching for– but we will quickly run out of time. If we’re able to hunker down and get by, we should– and more people bonded together will help make that possible.

2. If Cat is serious about doing the emu thing, she needs to get that squared away fairly soon, and she has to accept the labor needed for it. That means that she’ll have to find local men who can do the round-up and culling for her, because no way can she and I do that alone.

3. We need to buy a couple of guns. One for each of us. Probably a rifle and a handgun. And that means classes and shooting range practice, which is another expense. Legal purchases are still out of my price range, so I’m not sure how that will work, but at the least I need to learn how to use them properly.

4. Gardens! We live in a wildlife zone, which means we need 6-7 foot fencing to go around any gardens we do, and again– I can’t do that alone, while Cat hems and haws and refuses to make up her mind until she’s “in the mood” which means NEVER. I have to start working on the outside portions of my home, and begin to take ownership spiritually.

5. I need to get a passport and use it a couple times crossing into Canada. In a crazy emergency, we need to have an escape plan into Canada (and we’ll meet resistance, so I have a plan for that, too.) I think taking a couple of short vacations into British Vancouver would be good, to get used to how that all works. IF we use that option, it will have to be EARLY. And we’ll have to prove we’re refugees (being pagans? it will have to be more than just being not-Republican) and realize that at a certain point, it’ll be too late to cross. Also–? Canada is facing it’s own right-wing fascist threat, though it’s not as strong there as here. It could get stronger. There may be nowhere to hide– but all the same, having options is prudent, and I need to get that passport with the identity card!

6. I need to get at least one book DONE and another nearly so by then for several reasons, including for my income. And I’ll have to be careful about how I phrase things in said books. For example, by not going into politics at all so it can’t be used against me later.

7. Depending upon how the wind blows, I’ll have to start erasing some of my history from social media. Facebook will likely be deleted in 2 years, and I think I’ll copy my 20+ year long LiveJournal/Dreamwidth project onto paper and/or digital format of some kind and then start protecting and deleting parts of IT so it can’t be used against me. I’ve stated I’m a Democratic Socialist and the people likely to be in power will round all of us up for death or death camps… so… Yeah. I’ll do what I can to preserve what I can in some fashion, but I can’t leave shit around that can get me or people I love killed, SO–! In the meantime, I’ll do my best to be open and honest, but if shit goes sideways and suddenly you can’t find me–? That will be on purpose! Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, but I’m thinking it very likely will.

8. We need to start reaching out to and socializing with our neighbors and more locals. I need to assess who may turn enemy, who may be an ally, and who might need help later (we have some very OUT gay neighbors for instance who may be targeted.) As of yet, we have not stated our political identity here, posting no signs. But I need to know where everyone ELSE stands. In addition, having at least one male renter may be prudent, otherwise Cat and I may be misidentified as lesbians and targeted ourselves. (I know, this entire scenario is fucking crazy, but I am dead serious about it being a concern.)

9. Not political, but rather a climate reality-check: We need to thin out parts of our mini-forest here to prevent wildfires from easily reaching and burning the house. Some clearing out of underbrush and deadwood would be smart. It’ll be easier to do during peace than later on.

10. Finally– rounding my prep list to 10! I have to follow up on my IFS and hypno-therapy to unclog some shit mentally and deal with issues that will weaken me when the shit hits the fan. Mental health must be attended to and regularly!

My preliminary conversation with Cat about the above seemed to reach her. We’ve discussed this type of thing in bits and pieces before plenty of times, but I’m putting a deadline on it now: the 2024 Presidential election. The 2 years before it, despite the pandemic and other issues, will be a haven compared to what I think is coming. The year ’24 itself will be a whirlwind as the last minute arrangements are made to try to survive what will be the worst period of our lives. One good thing about all the shit I’ve gone through so far? –I’ve learned how to rise up to meet a crisis. I’ve also learned that preparing ahead of time saves money and sanity. Maybe now it will save our lives.

I keep going back to those future dreams I had, where I saw armed people in the streets and the military turning on it’s own people. It was a hard-right proto-fascist political group that took over the United States, both from the grass-roots and from the top-down, crushing all the more reasonable people in-between. I don’t want those dreams to be true. However, other things have happened that were in those dreams, and I need to accept the possibility and act upon that acceptance.

And if I’m wrong–? We are prepared for other things and end up far more secure than we were to begin with. There literally is no down-side except the up-front expenses of certain things like firearms and trips. And the stress of realizing what we’re facing. But I’ve been blind-sided one too many times at this point in my life, and I’m not signing up for another round. Being prepared to the point we are now saved us a LOT when the pandemic hit. Now we just gotta keep pushing to nail shit down.

Lots more on this (and other, more typical Lucretian posts) to come.