I've got skills, baby
I am not a conspiracy theorist.
I do not see black helicopters.
I do not hear the clickity-click of wire-tapped phones.
I do not feel the creepy tendrils of Big Brother tickling my spine.
I just don’t think any government – or any faction – has it in them to be so powerful, so secretive to shape policy or illicit control.
But where we stand in 2007, there are many who opening question any number of conspiracy theories. I listen in on conversations at pubs, at restaurants at the gas pump. And it is all the same:
Control; manipulation; conspiracy.
And it’s not like I have this rosy, rose-colored view of the world. We’re in big trouble. The world, that is. And I’m just hoping to survive my little patch of it.
I got asked the question this week if I could survive a major catastrophe.
The answer is yes, quite well.
First, I have a survivor’s mentality.
And I’ve got skills.
If the shit were to hit the fan, I could count on myself for the four basics of survival: fire, water, shelter and food.
I have been able to start my own fire with the bow-and-drill method; it’s tricky, so I now carry a fire-starter tool.
I know how to build a solar still, and carry the materials to do so in the backcountry.
I can build a shelter to weather the elements.
I know the basics of wild, edible plants (I could do better here), but know that I could, in a pinch eat all sorts of nasty things that could keep me alive.
I do not obsess over the four basics of survival. I don’t run drills, I don’t practice in the backyard.
I remain confident that the skills are there.
Just in case, you know, the black helicopters start circling.
I do not see black helicopters.
I do not hear the clickity-click of wire-tapped phones.
I do not feel the creepy tendrils of Big Brother tickling my spine.
I just don’t think any government – or any faction – has it in them to be so powerful, so secretive to shape policy or illicit control.
But where we stand in 2007, there are many who opening question any number of conspiracy theories. I listen in on conversations at pubs, at restaurants at the gas pump. And it is all the same:
Control; manipulation; conspiracy.
And it’s not like I have this rosy, rose-colored view of the world. We’re in big trouble. The world, that is. And I’m just hoping to survive my little patch of it.
I got asked the question this week if I could survive a major catastrophe.
The answer is yes, quite well.
First, I have a survivor’s mentality.
And I’ve got skills.
If the shit were to hit the fan, I could count on myself for the four basics of survival: fire, water, shelter and food.
I have been able to start my own fire with the bow-and-drill method; it’s tricky, so I now carry a fire-starter tool.
I know how to build a solar still, and carry the materials to do so in the backcountry.
I can build a shelter to weather the elements.
I know the basics of wild, edible plants (I could do better here), but know that I could, in a pinch eat all sorts of nasty things that could keep me alive.
I do not obsess over the four basics of survival. I don’t run drills, I don’t practice in the backyard.
I remain confident that the skills are there.
Just in case, you know, the black helicopters start circling.
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