Thoughts on "A Freedomnista Symbiosis For Our Future"

 Claire Wolfe over at Living Freedom has published an interesting and thought provoking essay entitled A Freedomnista Symbiosis For Our Future (Part I) that is worth a read (if you are so inclined, go ahead and click over.  I can wait).

If you are not so inclined, in short her argument is that although things are about as they have ever been or possibly even getting worse (have you actually looked at inflation lately?), there is a bit of good news:

"But there’s one ray of light shining through their centrally planned catastrophe: More of us finally understand that we must act individually and in small groups to avert or mitigate disaster and to preserve what we must through a potentially bleak future. Even better, we understand that we can do that. We have the tools, the knowledge, the spirit, and the determination. We can’t fix global or national politics. We can’t confront and beat back oligarchy. But we can take charge of our own lives, families, and communities.

Prepping and homeschooling are no longer fringe activities. People are saving everything from heirloom seeds to classical literature. Self-sufficiency has become a thing. From alternative construction models to home generators and sawmills to beekeeping and home brewing and fermenting, millions are adapting to the political threats and the cultural dilapidation by taking their lives and their families’ lives into their own hands. Post-lockdown, millions are saying NO to the job culture and yes to self-determined forms of work. After being badly burned by “experts” they’re beginning to say YES to their own life experiences and no to received institutional wisdom. Young men are giving up corrupted universities for lucrative, hands-on trades.

This runs across the entire political spectrum, but it’s certainly a roaring trend among freedomistas.

And here’s one thing I’ve noticed. These days, when freedomistas talk about retreating or gulching or focusing exclusively on our local communities (or if you’re a Christian, considering Rod Dreher’s monastic Benedict Option) our activist friends probably don’t react with sneers."

The thing is, I think she is right.

Do not look for this in the major media outlets or amongst our "betters" (otherwise known as the experts).  They will tell you, of course, that we are all embracing the "Future".  If nothing else, I think a great many people have learned that saying too much to those who you do not know well is asking for trouble.

But over the last year,  I believe - and I believe because I see what is being purchased and where we are short on things and even what those in my larger circle talk about - that people are at least taking notice that a complete reliance on society as it is currently construed is not necessarily a wise move.

If you were in some parts of the country last year, you saw your area turn into an war zone as burned out as the old Yugoslavian republic. If you lived in other areas, you saw crime increase as public protection fell away and the local government unable to stop it.  If you lived in yet other areas, you saw your power and water fall away for a week or more, sometimes in some of the most affluent and "forward thinking" cities of the country.

In other words, if you relied on the society that is proclaimed as good, just, and the future, you could have been badly impacted by it.  

It is in small ways, that people would not notice if they were not paying attention:  doing more things around the house, learning new skills, trying one's hand at a garden or even a single tomato plant, choosing a second career or even a non-traditional (by educational standards) first one.  And for what is the third rail in Baja Canada (maybe Alta Canada as well), people taking an interest  - a purchasing and training interest - in self defense.

And they are congregating - again, in small ways and groups.  You will not see this in the social media - most people have learned how that works by now.  A short comment, a shared e-mail - that may be all.  But that is enough.

(As a note, the Dreher article she references, although older (2015) is of interest if you are Christian.  Sort of a call back to the equivalent of the monasteries of the Dark and Middle Ages, which we have discussed here before).

It is not a large leap in progress. But it is something. And in this day and age, any progress in such things is good progress