The Zombies Are Already Here

Just look around you. How many people do you see walking around with no life in their eyes? How many people don't seem to care about anything one way or the other as long as they have Twinkies, TV, video games, cell phones and pills, lots and lots of pills. How many people you know or see, that are really happy? How many are angry, bitter victims that point the finger and blame everyone and everything around them for the life that they perceive is filled with injustice and deprivation? So, what do they do? Here, take this pill, it will make everything all better.

It seems a majority of people have bought into Madison Avenue's sales pitch, you see it in every other commercial while sitting in a doctor's office waiting room. Here, take this pill, it will improve your life and kill you at the same time. Partaking of prescription drugs or over the counter medications for every little symptom or possibility has become so prevalent that the population in general has been chemically castrated and lobotomized. They don't feel, they have no drive and they just don't care. Sound like Zombies to you? Give me Cheetos! Give me TV! Give me video games! Give me special delivery pizza! Give me! Give me! Give me!

And you know what? That's exactly what they're going to say when we reach the bottom of the slippery slope we're traveling down at break neck speed. The momentum has accelerated to the point of

treacherous, fatal impact. Do the zombies see it? Can they feel the sudden drop as the wheels fall off as the ever quickening decent occurs? No, I don't want to see it. No, I don't want to hear it, stop talking about being prepared and taking care of my family. Where is my anti-anxiety pill? You are crazy. You are a conspiracy theorist. You are using scare tactics. I don't like you, the things you say make me feel bad. I need another pill, I'm stressed. Honey, could you pass the pill bottles and junk food? I just want to relax from a day of stressful interaction with all of these Nationalist, conservative wackos that want us all to die from global warming, climate change and hurt feelings. I don't want to feel like that, pass the other pill bottle over while you're at it.

Folks, do you realize that most prescription medications that everyone carries around by the grocery bag full turn you into a zombie? Yes, some medications are needed and necessary, but we know people that go to the doctor, doctor says, well, you're almost [fill in just about any age] and the survey says you need to take statins for your cholesterol. But doc, my cholesterol is okay, it's not high. Yea, I know, but it's preventative medication and for your own good. Here, take this pill. Oh, OK. What are the side effects?

Well, it may cause fatal problems with your organs, subdue your emotions and sexual drive, make you suicidal, and make you unable to react to dangerous situations quickly if you ever need to, but it's for your own good. Here, take this pill. Oh, OK. For how long? For the rest of your life. Oh, OK. Don't worry about your organs, we'll keep an eye on you. There are other medications that will take care of that if you need them. Oh, OK. And don't worry about not being interested in your spouse anymore, you're almost [fill in just about any age] and things slow down more and more as you get older. We need for you to take all of these pills so you will keep coming back to the doctor with side effect symptoms so we can prescribe more pills that will cause more side effects, then you will need more pills and I will make more money by seeing more patients that need more pills........until you are dead.

In the meantime, you will need to do bloodwork twice a year, and don't forget the occasional MRI and CT scan. To make sure that your organs aren't overreacting to your pills, we'll need to run a colonoscopy, endoscopy, and any other tests you may need. They may also cause hospitalization so we can run many more tests and procedures. With all of these tests, if we find something that is not quite right, you might have to have minor surgery. Do you want to have surgery? It will fix the problem, from taking all of those pills. But after that procedure, I will give you more pills to make you feel better, like some type of opiate pain pill that you will then become addicted to.

Zombies. We have this unfortunate running joke that when you see someone shuffling down the aisle at the grocery store, or driving slow hunched over the steering wheel that they've either just had their daily dose of anti-whatever, or they're taking way too much of everything. Too much Thorazine is our usual statement.

 
If Frank had followed the standard cardiac advice after his double bypass, he would be taking about six medications right now, all of which have major side effects to your organs, emotions, psychological well being, not to mention interest in life in general. That's why his heart surgeon kicked him off of his patient list.

You won't take all these pills? Then I won't be your doctor. Oh, OK, says Frank. See ya, cause I ain't taking all of these pills. Before the bypass Frank wasn't taking any medications at all. His blood pressure was fine, his cholesterol was fine, his bloodwork indicated no problems whatsoever. Now? He takes a very, very small dose of the most un-invasive blood pressure medicine we could find through our research and that his body will tolerate. That's it. Our current medical practitioner is okay with this. Frank is in charge of his body, not the medical/pharmaceutical industrial complex.

We were talking about this topic at breakfast one morning. That is what gave me the idea for this article. Frank's comment? I want to feel, I want to be a man. I want to have the ability to duck if I see a baseball coming at my head. I want to live the life I have left, not be an unfeeling, medicated old man. Frank has a friend that has long used testosterone medication which caused many other health issues, so now he takes a number of pills to deal with the side effects of the original medication. Frank has a relative that has been taking statins, beta blockers and blood pressure medications for years, just in case. His comment was I don't have to change my diet or worry about my heart, I can do whatever I want......as long as I take these pills. But he also hasn't been with his wife in 20 years, there is no interest or desire there. That may be okay for him, but it's not okay with Frank. He knows he is going to die some day, we all die, but he doesn't want to die being a zombie, he wants to be a man, a real man.
 

This doesn't even begin to address the opioid, anti-psychotic and psychotropic medications that are being dispensed like candy at the state fair. Sometimes I wonder if people seek out these types of drugs to escape from the condition of the world, our country, their lives, or they're just trying to be like the Jones down the road. You know, screwed up in the head by Madison Avenue, Hollywood and all of the social pressure and unrest in the world. Is life so bad? In many cases I would say yes. It's awful. Look around at the hatred and anger that is spewed across the airwaves, right to your TV, your computer, your phone, all live and in your face. 

 A different thought here. Is our government using the medical industry to suppress the drive and motivation of American citizens as a means to appease and subdue the population? Are these medications being used as a means to control resistance? If you have a kid in school that is an issue, medicate them. That way you have a nice, compliant little boy. Just food for thought. Control.

Please understand, Frank and I take medications that our bodies need. We wish we didn't have to, but we do. If you need to take medications, then take them. If you don't need to take medications, it is your choice. It is your body. We all need to have our heads screwed on right. If you don't need it, get off of it. Focus. Keep your mind clear, sharp, vigilant and functioning. No matter how difficult life is now, if it gets a whole lot worse, which many of us believe it will, you will need all of your wits about you. Every last one of them. Folks, the zombies are already here. Don't be one of them.

Until next time - Fern

What You Know Might Save You

We received a very interesting and informative comment yesterday that we feel is worth posting for all to read. I have said something similar to this opening statement, that I was born in the wrong century. Frank and I have long known that our varied life experiences have brought us to this place and time with a plethora  of skills and perspectives that may help us as the current crises of the world unfold. It really doesn't make any difference when we were born or where we live, this is where we are and what we have to deal with. The events of the world will continue to unfold, whether we are ready or not. Please share your thoughts. Enjoy.

I feel as though I am a person born out of my time period. I am not yet sixty but my childhood experiences include using an outhouse, drawing water from a well, and taking baths in a tin bathtub after heating water on a wood cook stove. My parents grew corn, peanuts, and other vegetables in a five acre field. I grew up helping to harvest and can what we grew. We milked cows and my mom made butter from the cream. I was the last born of my siblings, and born late in my parents' lives. They grew up in the Depression and married at the beginning of WW2, so I am a tail end of the Baby Boomers. 

My experiences were embarrassing as a child but came back to help me cope many years later in the aftermath of a hurricane that plowed through our area. We lost power for about four weeks. I tried to do what my momma did and found that I was not the woman she was. But I did learn some very important lessons. I relied too heavily upon electricity and on my freezer for food storage. I had a pressure canner and had canned some vegetables, but I still had a lot of vegetables and meat in the freezer. Now I try to keep plenty of jars empty for emergency canning of meat and most of my vegetables go in jars. 

 I was given a dehydrator several years ago and found that drying vegetables and sealing them with a food sealing system in jars takes up less space that fresh. 

Since I did and do most of my cooking on an electric stove, the lack of that power has stirred me into looking into other ways of cooking without power. I have since discovered an interest and love for cast iron, especially Dutch ovens. My first experiment with one was in the coals of a burned brush pile from a tree blown down by a hurricane wind. Food burned on the bottom and was raw in the middle. But my daughters have taken up my pursuit and they cooked much of our Thanksgiving dinner last year in Dutch ovens outside over a wood fire. 

I liked your article because it fits my lifestyle of gardening, canning and enjoying the fruits of my labor. I live in a climate that allows me to grow food almost all year round, but for the past several years, I have had an urge to save seeds from the vegetables we grow and to try to save extra possibly for neighbors in the future since I can't feed them all and they may need to have something to plant. Most of us "country folk" live like city folk now because we buy fresh seed from the feed and seed stores each year and there are fewer and fewer of us gardening and growing our own food, because it is quicker and easier to run by the grocery store and get what we need or want. It is a lot of work to grow and process your own food. I have heard comments to that effect. 

After reading the Woodpile Report, I found someone giving voice to some concerns that have been in my heart for a couple of years...namely, what would happen if we could not grow food for a year or so because of outside circumstances. And what would happen if the stores that sell seeds are no longer open or stocked? About three years ago, I saw a clearance sale of end of summer goods at a dollar store. Included in those goods, were packets of flower and vegetable seeds. I bought quite a few for pennies a packet and so I have been collecting these seed packets and storing them in my freezer for my own use and for future giveaway seed. To my surprise I even found a few heirloom seeds among them. I have other seed that I have saved in glass jars using the food sealer system and jar attachment. I opened a few jars of seeds this spring and was amazed that most of the seeds were viable. Only one of the jars of seeds failed to germinate. 

Anyway, my next canning experiments are going to include oranges, lemons, and butternut squash. By the way, have you heard of okra seed being roasted and ground to be used to stretch coffee grounds? I have heard that such a thing was done in the Great Depression, but I would like to know if anyone else has knowledge of this. 

Thanks for sharing your experiences with others.

[Name removed]

Please share what you know and have experienced. We're all in this race to survive together. The finish line is simple. It's your life.

Until next time - Fern