Be Ready For The Long Haul

I hope you've been thinking about my last post and making a list of your current assets and resources. I believe it's important to start with the positives, because the list of things we need to gather and improve can be overwhelming.

The trick is to take it one step at a time, of course, just like every other challenge. As you move forward toward self-reliance, you'll also be adding to your list of assets. We all have skills, talents, and networks that we forget about until they come into play.

As a next step, I suggest that you start working toward economic freedom. Someone said 'Debt is slavery,' and that is absolutely true! So long as you are in debt, you belong to the person or the corporation that holds the lien.

Rather than repeat what has already been written by others, I'm going to refer you to an excellent blog. Sound Money Matters has a list of 10 Ways to Prepare for a Depression that covers all the basics for freeing yourself from slavery.

As the post points out, there is a real danger that America will continue to suffer through the economic recession we've experienced for the last few years, and it may very well get worse before it gets better. The suggestions in the post will help you stay ahead of the game. What's more, they are the same moves that I'd suggest you use to become more self-reliant at any time and under any circumstances.

Start Where You Are

The path to self-reliance is long and twisted. It cannot be easily traveled, nor should you expect to arrive at a specific destination.

In the 21st century, we are all tied to the rest of the world in such a complex and tangled manner that autonomy is impossible. That said, there has never been a time when it is more important for us to be able to depend entirely upon our own devices.

Whether or not you accept the doomsday scenarios, whether or not you want to be an all-out survivalist, whether or not you want to escape civilization, the fact is that we will all come face-to-face with disaster at some point. Perhaps it will be no worse than a 24-hour power outage due to a storm, but the sad truth is that most of the families in America are not prepared to survive even that long without help from the outside.

Because we never know exactly what conditions may present themselves, it behooves us to be ready for any emergency. Obviously this requires a great deal of planning, of accumulating basic supplies, of learning a variety of skills. The scope of preparedness appears overwhelming when viewed in total, but fortunately it needn't all be done at once.

Let us begin with the first step on the journey. Let us begin exactly where we are at this moment.

Step 1: Take stock. Over the next few days, make of list of provisions you already have on hand and of skills you already possess that will be useful in your quest for self-reliance. Can you start a fire? Do you have food stored? What other assets are already available to you?

By beginning with a positive approach, I believe that each of you will find that becoming more self-reliant is really just a matter of building upon what is already yours. As we go along, we'll address slightly more difficult tasks, but your assets list will serve as a reassuring reminder that you are closer than you think to freedom.

Get Ready

During the Great Depression of the 1930s and again during World War II, life on the homefront was all about conservation of resources. Gasoline, food, and other items were precious, so the responsible housewife made the best of what was available.

David Stockman, former budget director for the Reagan administration, recently noted that we've been living a financially decadent and unsustainable lifestyle for the past 30 years. The current recession is not over and, according to Stockman, won't be over for a long time.



What a difference from the way our parents and grandparents lived! During this week's holiday shopping binge, we saw the masses pushing into department stores to snap up the 'sale' items. Over and over again, these consumers said that they wouldn't have been able to afford Christmas without the discounts.

What necessary purchases were they making? Video games, large screen televisions, and jewelry.

What would previous generations make of that? And is it possible for us to return to a balanced and affordable lifestyle while still enjoying life? Of course! Until the most recent generation, Americans were happier and still frugal.

It's a matter of mindset. Living within our means isn't difficult nor does it require great sacrifice. All the basic needs of a family can easily be met with a bit of work and planning, and there is still more than enough luxury for those who truly understand what matters.

The New Homefront blog is here to share ideas and thoughts about regaining our strength as individuals and as a nation through sensible action and sustainable living. As a first step toward taking back control over your own life, I suggest you have a look at the 72-Hour Survival Kit assembled by the University of Colorado.

Everyone should have a fully stocked survival kit and be able to survive alone for a minimum of 72 hours. This is an important lesson that has been relearned with every natural disaster that strikes our country. With internet, cell phones, and automobiles, we feel as if there is nothing standing between us and the rest of the world. Victims of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina know better!

Remember: the first step toward taking back our own power is being able to take care of ourselves without any help from the outside world. We must make the best of what we have, waste nothing, and gain the skills needed for creatively using and reusing materials on hand. Knowing that we can do that (as all other generations of Americans did) gives us the courage to move forward toward rebuilding our society.

The New Homefront

In a recent blog post, John Michael Greer points out that we in America are experiencing potentially cataclysmic changes in our society. He writes:

"The price of oil is bouncing along above $80 a barrel, the International Energy Agency has now admitted that peak oil happened in 2006, the United States is openly covering its debts by means of the printing press, and agricultural commodity prices have jolted upwards to unprecedented levels under the paired pressures of an increasingly unstable climate and a disintegrating global economic system...."

Mr. Greer goes on to say that a prediction of our current situation even a few years ago would have been met with jeers, and that despite seeing it happen NOW we are blindly going about the trivia of the holiday season.

How bad does it have to get before we act?

The New Homefront blog aims to be a resource for those who recognize the importance of being as prepared as possible for the unimaginable events to come. Just as civilians shouldered responsibility for helping the war effort in the 1940s, all of us today must step up and act quickly and surely to protect ourselves and our world.

I hope that you who are reading this will be inspired to engage in preparation and will share your own knowledge with others through the comments section.

Together we are strong.