IF I WAS A PROPHET

If, only, I was a prophet; I could see what the global markets were going to do, in the next week. It doesn't look good.

But I am not a prophet. If I was, I would have seen, the back to the land revolution of the 1970s, would fizzle. I, always, was interested in living as close to nature as possible, so when the movement, to go back to the land, gained momentum in the early 1970s, we jumped on the bandwagon. The way people were living didn't make sense then, as it doesn't make sense now. By giving up running water and electricity, Jamie and I went a little further back than most folks.

We wanted to understand what people gave up, by hooking up to electricity and bringing water into the house. We wanted to know how our great-grandparents, and sometime grandparents, lived and what they took for granted. There was a powerful wave of energy going through the consciousness of man, that suggested that we needed to go back and find out how we lost our way. I felt it so strongly, that I believed everybody, would soon follow. We dropped out gradually and when we finally gave up electricity, paradoxically, the world we left, took a turn back into the craziness, we felt it was evolving from.

We developed a very serene unhurried lifestyle. We lived elegantly and did not feel deprived. We, certainly, had our trials, as we lived in a world that required money and we had none. I didn't expect that to happen, as I felt I could bring in money with my new concept of doing therapy. It didn't work out. Perhaps, I will go into the reasons in another blog.

There were a great number of people who understood what we were doing and we had constant company. We had no phone, so people dropped in anytime; usually planning to stay a few days.

The people around us, thought we must be nuts. In this rural area, it wasn't their great grandparents or even their grandparents that didn't have the modern conveniences. It was their parents. And most of them, who were around our age, didn't have electricity or running water when they were children. Many of our neighbors just couldn't understand it. Yet, it would cause them to reminisce and I heard several people say [something like], "We didn't have any of these modern labor saving conveniences and still we had more leisure" They seemed to understand that society had lost something.

As I said before, I thought the world was going to follow. At least, I thought a community of modern homesteaders would develop. We did have a homesteader club; which was a group of people interested in learning how to live off the land. It was a very diverse group held together by that one idea. By the 1980s, the group lost its juice and slowly disbanded. When we had children, we thought it was not a lifestyle we wanted to pursue. I don't know if the children would have suffered, if the community thought their parents were weird, but I would guess so. Besides we couldn't continue living comfortably without money and having a regular daytime job, one had to commute to, was difficult without a shower etc. I tried it for a couple years. I would have to get up early and get the wood stove {kitchen range} going, if I wanted breakfast.

So I was not much of a prophet then. I really believed people wanted a different way of life and I was genuinely surprised
when the homesteader movement lost its steam. Like now, the economic system seemed close to collapse. Since then, I have learned much about economics and how the system can be resuscitated and kept afloat, even when common sense, would conclude, it must collapse.

I am not sure of anything; yet things have never looked worse for the world economy, as they do right now. Last weeks dumping of 500 tons of paper gold on the futures market was an act of desperation. Should we know if the the economy is going to collapse? Can we do anything any way? Perhaps there is a reason reliable prophets seem in short supply. I don't know.

If the worst happens {or is it the best}, we are going to need everybody who is willing, to get their hands in the dirt, to do so. We are going to need to feed ourselves and our neighbors. Imagine money evaporating. How will we get along? It will be the end of big agriculture. Suburban lawns will be converted to vegetable gardens. Vacant lots in the city will be gardened. Appropriate basements, if cool enough, will become root cellars. People who know how to can, will throw open their kitchens, and teach canning classes.

Raising chickens will become common, even in the city, where appropriate. Many suburban lots are large enough to raise chickens and even a hog or two. Five families can band together and one of the families can raise the hog and they can all contribute their kitchen scraps as part of the feed. The most skilled can do the butchering; all will share. Folks can specialize and do what they are good at. One family can raise potatoes, another squash etc. There is no need for one family to raise everything they consume themselves. The theme is sharing, what you have, with everybody.

Instead of a negative, the collapsing of the economy is a chance for us to create a life that makes sense. When we realize, we are 'one' and accept our 'oneness', we will move into a world, where we use our gifts, for the benefit of all. We will be amazed at how easy it is and how effortless life becomes. Loving our neighbor will be as easy as breathing. Eventually, it will seem like we have awakened from a bad dream, and living what we think of reality now, will be unbelievable.

Love and Peace,  Gregg