Think Globally, act locally.

I know that there are several hundreds of people out there that are very aware of what is coming at us, economically. I know a few who are blogging(and one that stopped blogging recently :( ) I think the preps are great but there has to be something more local in place in addition to that preparation. Not everyone is going to be prepared for $4/gal gas or higher when there is such a high unemployment rate in the country. There will be migrations(some already taking place on a small scale)and those people could quickly turn into the "golden hoard" if there are systemic failures: Transportation/product distribution being the key one for large cities.

I have been putting a lot of thought into this the last couple of days. To be honest, I could be putting the best preps in place where I am but, where I am is not where I intend to be when things get rough. I live far to close to a main hub of human activity that is likely to break down faster than the normal 'rule of 72'.(it did 2 years ago when we had a city wide power failure that lasted 3 days. The criminals ramped up thefts overnight. Crimes of opportunity they were called by the LEO's of the area, and most weren't pursued.) In addition to that, I haven't the land locally to be able to grow much of anything. We have a saying around here for that. The ground is made up of clay, clay and you may even find a rock or two with some more clay. Grass grows on a thin layer of topsoil and 4 inches down, CLAY. That more than anything is reason for looking elsewhere to bugout to when the time is ripe.(and no, I don't plan on bugging out so much as making the move before that is needed. I am ready if something goes bad before then though)

Near the area I am planning on retreating to, there is great soil for small plots. Not much more than 1/2-1 acre sizes but they are scattered about all over the place. The other aspect being that the area never really recovered from the Great Depression and the people there tend to be a bit more Self reliant than the people that surround me where I am now. I can easily see micro economies forming there, barter being the start of it.

But that brings up the point of this post. Even in your preps of an inward nature, are you looking around at the people that surround you and how they can be brought into the loop of a micro-economy? Even if they aren't 'harvesters', do they have skills that may be needed when you can't 'run to the store to get something'? Does that old guy up the street, that is always tinkering about, have a virtual hardware store in his shed? Does that lady across the street have the means of processing grain and knows how to bake bread? The key here is being able to see the resources around you. We can't be our own islands for long enough. We need outside skills. Even the obscure ones. I have been trying to educate myself on as many skills as I can acquire over as broad a course as possible(and it gets bigger every month it seems.) This isn't just learning from books but actually getting my hands dirty, smoke in my eyes, blisters under my blisters, work. I have managed to screw up enough castings to know what not to do to get a good casting for making obscure parts for machines. I have broken a couple of good cutting bits learning that I have to anneal certain steels before I can chuck 'em up in the lathe. I have learned how to 'read' the colors of steel for heat treating them to make tool steel etc etc etc. I may not be able to teach myself how to farm a plot of land but that is only due to lack of land. If I had it available, believe me, I would(I would really like some fresh turnip greens about now MMMmmm) Yet even with all of that, I know that I wouldn't be able to hold out 'till things turn around'(assuming of course that the worst we have to deal with is financial collapse). I doubt that any of us could. Not alone at least. But if we could build small communities to spread the load, we would be able to work miracles. Look to your surroundings and the people that make up your neighbors. Find that Vet in the area that is concerned about the future and get them on your side.(a vet can double as a doctor and right now has access to better drugs, that your doctor can't get due to 'human factor') Find that curmudgeon engineer from Sliderule days, fluff his ego and befriend him. Each of them is a resource that you will need that can't be replaced easily. They both have knowledge that can't be found in books.

Not one person I have read on the Blogs is a stupid person. We may be labeled Redneck, racist, fascist(whatever, they need to read that definition again)Nazi's, ignorant, uneducated (Laugh Snort) and stupid. So what, they are just words. I can say, without a doubt, that those of us that are doing all we can to prepare(whether its our lands, larders, 'arsenals', and/or minds) we are 30 steps ahead of most of this country. I keep that in mind when I start getting down thinking about where all of this is headed. There will be pockets of sanity.