Saturday, June 12, 2021

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

6 comments:

  1. Say ‘ci’, not ‘oui’, TB! 😉👍

    Canadians handle tyranny much differently than Yanks. In America, if you make one unconstitutional move, the guns start loading, the knives come out, and the Patriots start scaring the pooh out of the socialists and commies with talk about cold dead hands and the folly of stepping on snakes.

    Up here in Canada we ignore it. We are supposedly still in lockdown over COVID, but the dissidents are in open revolt everywhere. I carry a mask but seldom wear it. If some Karen starts scolding me I will claim a senior’s moment, apologize, and put it on. As soon as the heat is off I will half-arse the mask with my beak hanging out. If Karen notices me and comes back again I will pull it up until her back is turned and then let it ride down again. When I am at the till at the store, I take my mask off right there after I paid up, and walk out maskless. For the most part no one notices or cares. So it goes for gun control, fwench immersion, multiculturalism, and other govt mandated rot.

    Draconian govts lose legitimacy eventually and people just start ignoring them. We can’t go to church? Fine, we’ll meet in our homes. If they bust us up at one house, we’ll meet at another. Force our kids into mandatory fwench immersion? Our kids will cut the class. Metric system? I will only use it for convenience but tend toward imperial measurements otherwise. Think about it - would you take orders from people like Justin Trudeau? His own family thinks he’s a fink.

    My own recent adventures with Marxism, materialism has me oddly confident of the future. Our would-be tyrants are mostly incredibly stupid people. They are often insulated and protected from the consequences of their actions and if things get dire… they will lose that. Common sense and reality can be deferred but never dispensed with.

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    1. It is odd Glen - I have no real concept of what Canada's vibe is as a country, maybe because it stretches as long as the US but with far less people.

      I will say that the US response is not monolithic either. It is a fair approximation to say that the "Red" areas have been less stringent and the "Blue" areas more stringent. Even with in states that were more draconian, there were parts where the mandates never touched daily activities. Going to them - from where we currently are - was a breath of fresh air.

      Governments are powerful as long as they are considered important and legitimate. Criminals of all stripes have already figured this out; it is only the law abiding that maintain a respect for the government no matter. Remove their respect, and the government is nothing but a hollow shell.

      I am somewhat confident, at least in that sense as well. People are learning rapidly to live their lives and exist outside of the system - first in small ways, then in larger ways. The time when the government becomes more demanding for respect will be some of the most delightful times of all.

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  2. Anonymous6:41 PM

    I can't recommend highly enough the first book by Eaton Rapids Joe (book published in that name)Seven Cows: Pandemic, Resilience and Hope. Amazon has it free on Kindle. Had zero idea what it was about but free. Started it one night as a go to sleep book. Well that didn't work! Made myself turn it off at 3:30am. Blog is also excellent. Found it 5/6 months ago and like your got hooked quickly.
    Margi

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    1. Margi - Thank for the recommendation - turns out he has a blog as well: https://eatonrapidsjoe.blogspot.com/

      And thank you for stopping by!

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  3. I have been reading and following Claire Wolfe for at least forty if not fifty years now. I don't remember when I first encountered Loompanics Press and her other counterculturalists, but I've been a fan ever since. That she's still writing regularly is remarkable, and a delight. In answer to her book titled "Don't Shoot the Bastards Yet" we perennially ask: "Is it time yet, Claire?"
    And Glenn, the Scots-Irish people so hated the establishment church that they refused to even call their Sunday observances "church". It was Sunday Go To Meeting time.
    The passive-aggressive learn that the most powerful words in the language are "I Won't!" You can beat me to a bloody pulp, but you CAN'T MAKE ME!

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    1. Greg, I am enchanted with Claire (if one can say this about someone one has never met). Her writings continue to demonstrate a level of thought and pondering I only wish that I could attain.

      Another tack the passive aggressive will take is the minimum, unenthusiastic compliance which is so awful that it people simply ignoring something more desirable.

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