What Happened To Normal?
What happened to the good old American dream of growing up, going out on your own, getting married, establishing your own household, working a good job for many years, then retiring to those 'golden years'? Where has it gone? What has happened to honesty, integrity, caring about your neighbor, honoring the family, and putting in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay? Where is patriotism and pride in our country? We have let our country change before our very eyes into something 'suddenly' unrecognizable.
Frank and I have talked about this many times. Most people in our position are slowing down and sitting back. We have never been busier, learned more, and pushed harder. Now it's - What else do I need to prepare before the collapse? It doesn't matter if you are young or old, rich or poor, when the time comes, we all need to be prepared to the best of our ability. We all need to be able to fall back on our spiritual, emotional and physical preparations in such a way that we will have some level of stability and sanity when life is no longer recognizable.
How many people have you tried to talk to about preparing for a 'disaster/collapse' lately? Do most of them still just stare at you like you are from another planet? We heard a very interesting comment a few years back about gardening that we recall regularly. "Why would I want to do that [garden] when I can go to the store and buy it?" If you respond with something like, "What if something happens and there is no store?" The usual reaction is a symptom of the 'that won't happen here' syndrome.
There are vast portions of our current society in which we choose not to participate. Many people we have met do not understand how or why we choose to live the way we do. We're just a strange anomaly. There is no shared level of experience or purpose that we can discuss and that makes people uncomfortable.
The labeling of those who choose the more 'old fashioned' way of work, patriotism and providing for oneself is rather ominous. How did family, hard work and patriotism turn into undesirable traits? How did pride in a job well done - actually working - whether at home or at a place of employment, become a beacon for ridicule or worse?
What happened to normal? Why do people like us cause that look of consternation? For us, it always has been so.
Until next time - Fern
The Marxist ideology, deeply ingrained in the Progressive Liberal Movement, has infiltrated public institutions for years. Society has been brainwashed by Progressives to believe that good is bad and bad is good.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I view this as a Spiritual Issue. Evil, which we see rampant now, is encouraged and enforced by Progressive Liberals. The whole goal, which as I stated started decades ago, was to destroy this nation from the inside out. What better way than to indoctrinate children in the Public School System; to instill Judges in power; to ruin the economy and make people dependent on the Master (Government); to demoralize a nation to believe that all evil is good and people with Godly values are wrong and dangerous.
The laziness, immorality, and apathy, in this nation, is at a peak. Anyone with common sense and wisdom knows what is coming and are preparing. Those who have an "entitled" or "dependent" viewpoint will suddenly realize they are without and will commit crimes to obtain the items to which they believe they are entitled. After all, entitlement and dependency are both self-centered values.
Those who are preparing have alot on their shoulders. Not only are they preparing to survive, be self-responsible, and self-sufficient, but there is also the entire protection issue. Not only the lazy (entitled and dependent) will be seeking to find what they want, but the entire legal structure will break down and the criminal element will be at large in masses.
I appreciate your post and I hope others take it seriously. We are at a crucial point in this country and there is no turning back, since the masses are unwilling to work hard and sacrifice.
I am enjoying your blog and will take some time to catch up on past posts. I found you recently through Hickery Holler.
Thank you for blogging and sharing.
Glenda,
DeleteI appreciate your insight and willingness to share with us and others. Our prayer is for more people to be inspired to do what they can for themselves and their families while there is still time.
I'm glad you found us.
Fern
Dear Frank and Fern,
ReplyDeleteYou have outlined our current society in a very concise way. But I think there are more questions to be asked. WHY can't our children find jobs that pay enough (if they can find a job at all) so that they can afford to move out on their own? I just read that due to fears of Obamacare concerns, almost half of US workers are now part time. That is frightening. Not only is part time work paid at a much lower rate, but a part time worker is usually not eligible for any benefits (insurance, paid time off, etc). How are our grandchildren being raised when their parents have to work 2 or 3 jobs each just to make ends meet? Could this have anything to do with the rise in crime rates, since the children don't have any guidance at home? Our society cannot keep this up - and this is a world wide problem. We are overdue for a change and the barbarians are at the gate. Ask the Romans how that worked out for them. Hopefully, there will be enough of us looking ahead and preparing who will live through the change to teach the remnants how to survive and maybe even prosper. Your blog increases those chances.
On a personaI note, I love your blog. I live vicariously through your writings. I suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, the kind that is caused by malfunctioning mitochondria, and it will never get better, and seems to be progressing. I am trying my best to create a garden in my tiny yard, but I can only work 15 minutes at a time in the summer humid heat in Houston (today the heat index is going to be 110F). In the spring and fall, I might last half an hour. But I keep at it, trying not to over do, because then I would be on the couch for a week. Your blog with the beautiful pictures of your garden inspires me to keep plugging along as best I can. I really wish you were my next door neighbor - it would be so much more fun than my current neighbors with the manicured lawns. So, please keep it up. I know the time spent blogging takes a chunk out of your time, so it is really appreciated.
Thanks for everything,
Katy
Katy,
DeleteYour determination to do what you can in spite of your medical condition is admirable.
I don't post the pictures of the weeds and grass that needs mowing. Thank you for the kind words.
Fern
I mentioned to my husband one time, my thoughts on when someone says, "Well, don't work too hard!" Usually, this is said by a store customer, or someone who is observing you working at a task, perhaps outside. I said, "Why not work hard? Why not do a good job, a job that you are proud of? Why be lazy? Where's the pride in that?" I think the next time someone says to me, "Don't work too hard!" I'll say, "Why not?" (BTW, I once spoke to my husband's boss in a store, and after introducing myself, he said, "your husband has a strong work ethic, there aren't many of those around anymore.")
ReplyDeleteThis comment is very appropriate today, Joy. We worked way too hard, but we got a lot done. And just when I was about to go sit down and take it easy for a while, we realized the dew berries were ripening. So instead, we had a late lunch, then I grabbed a bucket and went picking. While I was out there I realized that some of the beets and peas need picking, the cow peas and okra need weeding, I still have some herbs to plant, but next we have to butcher chickens because they have started pecking each other to death. But we can't do it tomorrow because we have to go to town. Aahhhh........what a great life! I wouldn't trade it for any other.
DeleteFern
We had one of our neighbors ask us why we were making it so hard on ourselves by gardening. It boggles my mind that so many folks choose to stick their head in the sand and avoid the truth.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading your blog. Thank you.
Toni
We have had the same experience, Toni. People ask us why we work so hard. Frank was saying just the other day, this is not hard work, this is our way of life. I'm glad you find something useful here.
DeleteFern