Bug-Out Now? By Tyler Woods 6/18/2016
There is concern for the state of our country that the only difference between presidential
candidates is minute variances of poor leadership.
Some don't see much value in remaining in harm's way and are looking for deep rural
places for their family to wait out the inevitable. They engage in seemingly endless
property searches, sifting through likely states with sustainable land. Herein lies the
problem.
Most locations with water, good farm land, and sustainable natural resource... have already
been found and likely ruined by placing a city on it. That's how cities came to be. A farmer
locates good tillable land and succeeds. Other farmers move-in to adjoining properties. A
country store, blacksmith, livery, and perhaps a church become necessary. Before you
know it, liberals come, take over, and regulate the farmer out because his crops and critters
offend their want for expansion.
Self-sufficiency seekers are left with what remains but that's not all bad. What remains are
scraps of land that meet all necessary criteria except not having enough of it to make a
city. These scraps of sustainable land might support a hundred or so people but not
thousands. Surrounding the scraps are vast regions of wasteland that are the reason no
people live there.
If you're looking, here's a great place to begin a search
[https://survivalblog.com/retreatareas/] but don't believe everything any single person says
about good vs. bad states, areas, and values. I personally believe the state of Texas is the
safest state in this fragile union and the most likely to survive a collapse of our US
economy. They have every resource necessary to thrive (sea-ports, oil, textile, beef, grains,
produce, business, their own reserves of gold) and “as a sovereign country (2014), Texas
would be the 12th largest economy in the world by GDP (ahead of South Korea and
Australia).” (Wikipedia) That's pretty good for a state. That said, even if US financial
collapse were to happen tonight, it would take years for things to settle out and find a new
'normal.' As a state, Texas is tops, but my focus is on my family and after a collapse,
sustainable land in a deep rural location takes priority over any recovering government.
While Texas may eventually surface in good shape, those on unsustainable land may not.
“Prepping” is a good plan for sudden and unforeseen calamities but the process after
whatever initializes the bug-out, is to reach sustainability while society unravels and
hopefully mends. I'm seeing former Preppers entering the transition now and emerging as
homesteaders. That transition period is the great unknown. Do you have what you need?
Do you really have what it takes? Have you planned for everything to survive the jump?
Having grocery resources (even hours away) would really help while you work your soil
into a fertile garden. Composting and soil enrichment take time. The same goes for
building a cabin, stock pens, barn, migrating to an off-grid lifestyle, and adjusting to a very
physical routine. Homesteading is hard work and far different than having a well stocked
bug-out vehicle. I fear many “Preppers” won't survive long after their stores are consumed
and they realize that book knowledge is no excuse for experience.
“Knowledge is knowing how it's supposed to work;
experience is learning it doesn't always work that way.”
Where you find your “safe-place” may surprise you. Land is cheap where water runs deep
but you can't depend on a grid dependent pump. Solar is the current 'great provider' but it's
not cheap or resilient. A man in San Antonio completed a ten thousand dollar domestic
solar system. He was up and running for a single day when a hail storm destroyed every
collector he had installed. The federal solar farm fared no better. This would be
devastating without a means to purchase replacement parts.
My grandparents welcomed 'rural electrification' to their North Dakota farm. They had a
single power pole half-way between the barn and house with a single light-bulb at the top.
That was it. They lived without electricity or refrigeration. Why do we spend so much
resource trying to re-create the product of our enslavement? I can find better uses for the
ten-thousand dollars it costs for a fully featured solar system and if I have flowing water on
my property, I can drive an auto alternator by a waterwheel to charge my batteries for
lights, a laptop, and radio.
In the end, it's all about value. Are you locked into a specific geographic location or are
land features the determining factor? What would it take to motivate you to get settled
before all the stores run empty? This current election is motivating some.
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