Awhile back a reader asked me how to be as self-reliant as possible because they didn’t like the idea of depending on society. The reader says, in effect, that they’ve noticed how morally inept the local government is there, how fragile society really is, and how reliant they are upon society and how much they dislike being in that position. I gave a quick answer, but thought this topic worth exploring a little further.
First of all, I’m not sure morally inept is the term I’d use – at least where I live. Probably more like morally bankrupt at this point, at least from what I’ve seen in local government around here where I live. Not everybody of course, but enough so that when it gets into the local newspaper you scratch your head and say, “Man. That’s messed up.”
Here’s a quick example. A local town manager here in Maine had an old school building that the town has been trying to sell for awhile and was approached by a guy with a rather shady deal. The guy wanted to buy the old school and put in a methadone clinic. The town manager went behind everybody’s back and said, “Sure!” knowing full well that the town’s people would be irate at the idea. The deal was set to go through until the local paper got hold of the story. He even lied to some of the council members about what was going on. Once everybody found out that this tiny town was going to have a large methadone clinic operating in the middle of it the sewage hit the fan in a big way. There were all kinds of problems with this idea and over a period of months the idea finally got shot down, but it never should have been brought to light in the first place. The town is so small that there’s only one working traffic light and the amount of traffic would have overwhelmed the local population among many other issues.
The point is that greed and desperation can sometimes cause leaders to act in ways that are contrary to what we as citizens expect from them and as the economy continues it’s downward slide (at least in my mind) the pressure put on our leaders continues to grow.
Once mankind moved out of the forests and into the first cities back in Mesopotamia there arose a need for government and I believe that’s when corruption started. When you place one man in authority over another there lies the seeds of abuse of power and corruption. But this is balanced by agriculture, commerce, technology, art, and the other benefits of a modern society. To give up all of these things would be to give up all that we have become as a species. There’s a lot of engineering, and labor, and technology, and brilliance behind the simple act of turning on your light switch.
I don’t think distancing ourselves from our community or technology is the whole answer. But I do think that we should be as self-reliant as possible for several different reasons: first, we reduce the carbon footprint on our world if we recycle, use clean energy, and so forth, and second, if TSHTF we are less of a burden on our local town or city government than others less prepared are sure to be, and third, we don’t have to worry about starving or going without if something happens because we’re ready for it.
It’s even possible that when others see how squared away you are – and OPSEC or not people are bound to notice eventually – you might be called on to fill a leadership or advisory position in your community because you obviously thought ahead. Are you ready for that responsibility?
Becoming Self-Reliant
The question then becomes how do we become more self-reliant? After food and water our biggest dependency is power. It didn’t take long from Edison discovering electricity to scientists inventing quantum physics and giving us television, computers, microwaves, and so forth to where we are today. All made possible by electricity.
The bad thing is that our highly technological society is completely dependent on it. The good thing is that there’s more than one way to generate it.
There are two main ways of lowering your dependence on outside entities generating your electricity. First is to simply reduce how much you use. Second is to try and generate as much as possible yourself.
To figure out how much electricity you use try the Energy Guide site. It’s an eye opener how much juice some of the appliances we use suck up. Once you know how much you’re using you can start figuring out how you can cut down. When you get consumption down as much as possible you can then start looking at how much you need to generate.
Wind and Solar Energy
The two ways available to most people willing to invest a little money is through wind and solar or a combination of the two. You can actually tie the two together so that if the sun isn’t shining hopefully the wind is blowing and you’ll still be charging batteries. Electricity from solar energy is created through the use of solar panels. The panels direct the energy to a charge controller that regulates the flow of electricity into a battery or a bank of batteries. The batteries store that energy and output it to a device called an inverter. The inverter changes it from 12 volt DC to 120 volt AC, so that it can be used by your appliances.
Each of the components that make up a system come in different configurations, sizes and outputs, and you’ll need to do a lot of research if you decide to go this route.
A windmill creates electricity through wind force and it can be tied directly into a solar system or can be used by itself with the same components as a solar panel system.
End of part 1
-Jarhead Survivor
BTW:
Next post I’ll discuss homesteading, independence from civilization, and ideas for a total breakdown, plus my conclusions about whether or not we can live without civilization.
What do you think? Can we?
Self-reliance or Dependence On Community When TSHTF – Part 1
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29 comments
I say Self Reliance. I think it would be OK to accept some help from others in the community just as you might share or helps others in the community but to rely on the community for your self preservation is a problem. In all actuality, it is the same thing we have now with our out of control Govt. YOU can rely on anyone except for YOU!
Self reliance within a community of like minded self -reliant individuals.
It sure does take two to tango and also to build a house or repair a car or truck and so many other jobs that will still need to be done no matter what happens.
man, if i hear about my carbon footprint one more time… we’re made, mostly, of carbon. we pass “greenhouse gasses”, when we consume beans from our food preps. we exhale carbon dioxide. the people who talk about our carbon footprint want to control us, if they can. they want to kill us if they can’t. in the mean time they want to profit by selling everyone “carbon credits”. (end of rant)
don’t forget small scale “hydroelectric” if you have any stream frontage.
Funny you should mention that, because I was looking for a “pre-fab” kit to do hydroelectric power. I could make a set-up myself if I wasn’t bogged down with school, family, etc, etc, etc… If you have heard of any such products can you put up a link please? I didn’t find much in my search
the sad truth is i don’t know how to “do” links. in fact i don’t actually know how to send an e-mail. i only communicate with my fellow survivalists through the “comments”.
coincidently, there’s a link on Rawles’ site today, for micro hydro power: Mayflower Trading Co. http://www.mayflowertrading.com
i hope they can help you. the book “Back to Basics” may also have some information on the subject. if i can find my copy amid all of my other stuff, i’ll try to cite chapter/page numbers.
Mack, Norman ed. ” BACK TO BASICS How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills ” (The Readers Digest Association Inc. 1981)
see Part Two: Energy From Wood, Water, Wind and Sun
(water power begins on pg. 94)
Mayflower Trading Co. has micro hydro sets.
Thanks Irish… By the way the website you put in your comment is a link! You don’t give yourself enough credit man!
thanks, but it really was completely accidental.
Self reliance is great.
Total independence is not a good strategy long term.
Yea sure, you could get to where you don’t need anyone else in order to eat/stay warm/survive. But what happens when you get sick, or injured or you need some complicated welding done to fix a tool? Community is a necessary evil if you want to live more than a cave-man style life.
Even something as simple as grains, needs a team of people to reasonably harvest and store.
Just my humble opinion.
Join the Amish & it’s irrelevant whether SH’sTF or not.
And Irish, I fully agree about the carbon footprint buzz term. My kids go to a very tech & “cutting edge” high school & even they (my kids) are tired of this rhetoric being pounded upon them.
The one great blessing to this ugly economy is it is forcing most people to evaluate what is truly valuable & the fragility & fallacies of the consumerist mentality. Thank goodness ~
Reduce, yes, but get completely away from the regulations ‘n rules – wouldn’t be allowed by the authoritahs. Dakin’s solution of moving out to the boonies and living in area where the authorities really wouldn’t want to even bother checking on you would be a start in right direction though.
I for one can live without this so called “civilization”.
One thing not mentioned… If it is a TEOTWAWKI kinda thing that goes on for years, you (or your kids if you are already covered in this department) will have to look outside of your family to find a mate to procreate with. That is of course assuming that you don’t find yourself being the brunt of every West VA joke ever made! [Cue “dueling banjo’s” and some CREEPY “kissin’ cousins” waiting for you to turn your back!]
Personally, I prescribe to the idea that my family will more than likely have more success if we have more family/friends around to help with everything that would need to be done (food production/acquisition/preservation, security, or whatever). Someone else mentioned injury/illness, and I have to agree 100%… Have you ever given yourself stitches?! I have, IT SUCKS! Not to mention simple companionship, but for those who think this is overrated “division of labor” is a strong supporting argument for allowing more *TRUSTED* people to join your group.
I will however say that in any situation, SHTF especially, if I get a bad “vibe” from somebody… they can go “pound some pavement”, cause I am at least a fairly good judge of character and I am not willing to allow a “fox in the hen-house” if I can prevent it!
As far as letting the community in general “into the fold”, NOT GONNA HAPPEN! Most of the folks around here are bout as useful as a screen-door on a submarine! They would be nothing more than dead weight, which would eat your food, drink your water, use your T.P. and piss & moan the whole time because everything is not being handed to them.
Completely unrelated but I thought it was funny so I am gonna share- I went to Caribou Coffee shop the other day (highly recommend them GREAT COFFEE!), when I walked inside I went to the restroom before I ordered my cup ‘o’ coffee . When I came out there was a girl (looked to be about 20-24) with 3 kids, she had ordered drinks for herself and the little-ones, then she suddenly started screaming at the poor girl working the counter because she couldn’t use food stamps to buy the beverages!! The sense of entitlement some folks have amazes me!
Being in the south, having a/c or at least some fans would be nice if the local utility failed. So, I have been looking into 12v DC powered fans including those meant for vehicle radiators as they are pretty powerful.
You loose a good bit of energy using a converter for dc-2-ac.
john, car fan uses HUGE amounts of power. there are several 12v fans available, mostly designed for camping.
how did that happen? a link! i didn’t mean to do it, it just happened!
at least i thought there was a link, it was there in my reply to Chefbear. (which now suddenly also isn’t there.)
People should not be so quick to dismiss the idea of a carbon footprint. While it may be loaded with political rhetoric, it can also be a good framework for measuring waste. When we are forced to stop relying on infrastructure for our needs, we will need to be as efficient as possible in order to stretch the things that we have stored and are producing. Just think about the personal wind/solar/hydro setups discussed in this post: to be done right you need an understanding of your usage and where you can cut down to make the most of the power you generate. At their core, many of green/enviro concepts are about efficiency and smart use of resources. It is unfortunate that the rhetoric often turns people away from the potentially useful core ideas.
i have nothing against efficiency, although i don’t expect much from the makeshift devices i’d be able to build.
their rhetoric puts me literally in fear for my life.
Hey Irish – I found one comment of yours that had been put over to spam so I “unspammed it” for you.
As to carbon footprint – I didn’t mean for it to be in the form of political rhetoric, although I can see why you might think so. I don’t consider myself to be a radical conservationist – hell, I drive a Dodge Kingcab V8 pickup truck – but I do think it’s a good idea to know how much energy you’re using in the course of a day or a week or a month for planning purposes. Like I said above, if you cut your dependence on the grid when TSHTF you won’t be as hard hit. And if we pollute a little less in the grand scheme of things by doing this then why not? That’s a good thing too.
Jarhead, thanks for un-spamming me. i agree with what you’re saying. i don’t even want to think about what we’re spending for energy right now. that’s why irishdutch-aunt does the bill paying around here. it’s bad enough i see what i’m spending for gasoline…
unless you live in “town” you need a big pickup, or SUV. i’m sure Maine potholes are at least as bad as PA potholes.
“need a big pickup”
Umm.. not to be argumentative here, but I dodge potholes just fine in my small Civic. Not to mention the agility and pothole dodging abilities of a bike, or a horse!
Don’t box yourself in with rigid thinking about what you “have” to have.
And before you reply, yes, I know, somethings a Civic can’t do. But, how often do those things need doin? Do they need doing once a month? once a year? Does it make sense to size your transportation for the once a month things or the every day things?
Again, not trying to bring anyone down or anything, just making conversation and trying to nudge people’s assumptions. 🙂
Jennie, my wife will tell you: i have no pothole dodging abilities. it doesn’t matter what i’m driving.
These days I nearly cry when I pull that truck up to the gas pump. Luckily Mrs Jarhead has a much smaller vehicle and that’s what we use 75% of the time. The truck is nice to have on weekends and when we go camping in the summer, but I don’t dive for a living any more so I could actually get by with a smaller truck if I wanted to.
But I like it so I’ll hold onto my little portion of the American dream as long as I can. 🙂
hahahahah
Personally, I have a JEEP Wrangler and a Ford Ranger pick-up, and both are for good reason.
#1 I HATE cars, they are hard to get in & out of (especially the smaller ones), you can’t see over other vehicles to look at the road ahead of the vehicle in front of you (I am anal retentive about situational awareness!), most of them are a joke to try and use for getting stuff home from the hardware store!
#2 I have never seen, and probably never will see, a civic driving where I do to hunt/fish
#3 Every year when it snows, or even if we get a heavy rain, I end up using one of my vehicles to pull little cars out of ditches!
#4 You can’t fit some of the emergency gear that I keep in my vehicles in a car.
#5 My fishin’ poles don’t fit in any car I have been in, maybe a limo, but again then it wouldn’t be able to handle the trail to get to my “honey-hole”
#6 We get flooding on several roads around here if it rains much, cars can’t get through it, but my JEEP has no problem.
#7 There is no better driving experience that I have ever come across, than putting the top down and cruising the backwoods of VA in 4wd!
I won’t argue that cars have their place, my girl drives a Civic and she loves it. FOR ME it’s either a truck or my JEEP, I have never owned a car and have no plans to own one in the future. They just don’t make a car that fits me or my needs in a vehicle. But to each their own.
Jarhead I feel your pain! It cost me $63 the other day to fill up my JEEP, gas is just under $4 a gallon down here right now!
I love my 4 wheel drive. It comes in handy during the winter time up here I’ll tell you that.
My wife drives a Jeep Cherokee, so we both have 4 x 4. We tend to go places a lot of folks don’t go to get to our camping or climbing spots and 4 x 4 has saved us on many occasions.
Chefbear, you’re just too young to remember the “jeepster”. “holy toledo, what a car!”