After reading the latest and greatest on the financial front (can you believe we're finally talking about Sovereign Defaults? Who knew? ;/), I started thinking about ways to protect myself and my family/friends... and as usual, my tiny brain circled right back around to...
Russia.
No, no, not Russia as in 'failed democratic experiment now run by mafia-type business thugs'; not 'Glasnost' Russia; not Soviet Russia.
Russia the unconquerable. Russia the Great Bear, as in so damn big you'll never take it over unless they send you an invitation. And, maybe, not even then. As a student of Russian history (I liked it at first 'cuz they had a history of blowing each other up, then there was Rasputin, and they kicked Napoleon's ass before that), I find myself reaching back to the days BEFORE the history books were written. How in hell did they survive? No Central Planning, no uniform currency - the ruble is recent, in historic terms - a capitol that got re-located and re-named on a regular basis... and yet, this huge mass of people, spread across one of the largest land masses on the globe, well, did all right. How?
Village Rule. And, yes, I'm over-simplifying to make a point. But think of it: all of our lives we've been told that "Bigger is Better". Bigger cars, bigger companies, bigger houses, bigger credit limits... bigger banks, bigger government, bigger taxes, bigger cities...
To paraphrase: "How's all that Bigger Stuff workin' for ya?"
My hopeful synopsis: not really well at all. Big Agra. Monsanto. Citi. Bank of America. Any government that needs a "czar" for anything. Seriously? Drug czar, crime czar, car czar - speaking of Russian history (!)...
Okay, so the Hippies tried the commune thing... we now call it Planned Community, but the difference seems to be how much bed-hopping goes on. But my thought is that they were onto something, although I'd probably spin it a little differently. Which brings me to my point: Who would you want in your village?
Recent events within my extended family made me regret living so far away in a time of trouble. I would definitely want my family close. If someone needs help, I want to be less than a long plane ride away. Much as I love where I live, I'd have felt a lot better - and slept more easily - if I'd known I could do something to help. <sigh>...
So, what do we need from "outside" the village? Well, that's up to the members, I guess. Gasoline. Coffee. Water, if we're not self-sufficient. We need a farmer. Or two. A mechanic; a doctor. A builder. Electricity? Maybe. Heat? Not so much where I live, but hot water's a plus, and prevents all sorts of bacteria from spreading. Sewer? Septic?
Which leads me back to the beginning: Is it time to pull the plug? Leave the suburbs? Leave the cities? Food shortages, water shortages, supply lines too long to maintain... what about oil and fuel? Oil's up another $3.00 a barrel as of Friday morning.
And the last, most important thing to think about this weekend: what do I bring to the village? What is my value? How can I help? In a time of shortages and inflated prices, how much dead weight can a village take on?
This is a rare, morning post. I'm off to my day. I'd like to hear from any or all of you: who would you want in your village? And, how can we make it work?
Till then,
Brutal Truth
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