Guest Post by Dmitry Orlov
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| Rafahu |
Later this week I am traveling to Artemas, Pennsylvania, to attend the third annual Age of Limits Conference at the Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary. I am scheduled to present on the same subject as last year: Communities that Abide, the subject a collection of articles I just published with the help of four illustrious co-authors. Although the subject is the same, I hope that the substance of this year’s discussion will be different. I hope to move beyond principles, which I explained out last year, and which I have since spelled out in the book, to practice. I hope that this year we will be able to focus the discussion on the physical, organizational, cultural and psychological problems that must be solved in order for resilient, self-sustaining communities to form.
Last year’s conference was the second venue at which I gave that talk. The first one was at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota, on the shore of Lake Superior, an hour’s drive from the Canadian border. There, the talk was very warmly received, by the students and the community elders alike, and resulted in very purposeful discussion. You see, this school is very popular and very successful at teaching a wide range of traditional skills. Many of these skills are directly applicable to creating independent, resilient lifestyles within the setting of a small community. But forming such a community is a problem: real estate is expensive, transportation costs are high, jobs are few and far between and pay less and less, and there is a great deal of financial and regulatory overhead that stands in the way community self-sufficiency. After some brainstorming, a potential solution was hit upon: the school would create a colony for its graduates, allowing successful graduates to become part of it. Since, in turn, the colony would embody the principles taught by the school, it would help strengthen the overall effort.
When I gave the same talk a month later at last year’s Age of Limits conference, the reaction was rather different. There was almost no discussion of impediments to implementation or ideas for overcoming them. Instead, the conversation veered off into gender politics, with some amount of booing and hissing from the female members of the audience. You see, the examples I picked, which included, among others, traditional, religious communities with patriarchal gender roles, were said to be ill-suited as models for such a “progressive” group. (By the way, I never proposed that they be used as models, only as examples from which general principles can be uncovered.) Then there followed some harsh (and, to my mind, ridiculous) criticisms of the Amish, who were said to abuse their wives and children. Compared to the focused and productive discussion at Grand Marais, this one turned out to be a complete waste of time. I was flabbergasted by this reaction, only later realizing that I had blundered into an American cultural war zone. I later realized that none of the criticisms raised had the slightest bit of relevance to the topic under discussion. Here, I want to draw a line behind all of that, and establish a basis for moving forward. I hope that this year’s conference will be on target.
Discussions of social policy, especially with regard to such things as the rights of women and sexual and racial minorities, play a very special role in American politics. As I’ve explained recently, it has recently been shown that the US is not a democracy, in which public policy is influenced by public opinion, but an oligarchy, where public policy is driven by the wishes of moneyed interests. On major issues, such as whether to provide public health care or whether to go to war, public opinion matters not a whit. But it is vitally important to maintain the appearance of a vibrant democracy, and here social policy provides a good opportunity for encouraging social divisions: split the country up into red states and blue states, and keep them in balance by carefully measured infusions of money into politics, so as to maintain the illusion of electoral choice. Throw a bit of money at a religious fundamentalist candidate, and plenty of feminists, gays and lesbians will vote for the opposing kleptocrat who will, once elected, help Wall Street confiscate the rest of their retirement savings, in return for a seat on the board; throw another bit of money at a rainbow-colored lesbian, and plenty of bible-thumping traditionalists will vote for the opposing kleptocrat who, once elected, will funnel tax money to his pet defense contractor in return for some juicy kickbacks. This part of the American political system works extremely well. On the other hand, if some matter comes before the politicians that requires helping the people rather than helping themselves and their wealthy masters, the result is a solid wall of partisan deadlock. This part works very well too—for the politicians, and for the moneybags who prop them up, but not for the people.
While it is the entire country that is being victimized by this system of governance based on the principle of social divide and conquer, it is women and minorities that are the pawns in this game, and the biggest losers, with some of the worst outcomes out of all of the developed countries. The US has the largest number of children born into poverty and leads the world in teenage pregnancy and the rate of sexually transmitted disease infection among teenage girls. In spite of what’s been called “progress,” the effect of women working outside the home has been to halve family incomes. American women never got equal rights: the Equal Rights Amendment died a painful death in 1982, when the final deadline for its ratification expired. (Compare that to the Russia, where the equal rights of women, including equal pay for equal work, was enshrined in Article 122 of the Constitution of the USSR in 1936, and has been a fixture of the political landscape ever since.) As for minority rights, there are more black slaves in America today than there were before the Civil War—they used to work on plantations, but now they work in prisons, many of which are privately owned, where they make money for their politically connected owners. With regard to the rights of sexual minorities, it needs to be noted that not only does the US lead the developed world in rape, but that here rape is evenly distributed between men and women, male rape being most prevalent, again, among the prison population.
This vast landscape of societal failure is obscured behind a verbal veil of political correctness. Never mind the fact that the nirvana of progressive race and gender politics only exists on television (where it is faked) and among a few of the continuously shrinking remnants of the middle class—we are still required to pay lip service to it. Elite universities have evolved an entire gender-neutral, racially bland system of circumlocution, which is now mandatory for everyone to learn and use: say “he” instead of “she,” and suddenly you are a sexist. Calling a spade a spade is forbidden: idiots no longer exist—now every one of them is “mentally challenged,” nor do senile old fools—who are now “Alzheimer’s sufferers.” Scores of people are required to undergo mandatory sensitivity training, where they are brainwashed until they are no longer capable of telling other people exactly what they think of them. Thus, hypocrisy has been promoted from a character flaw to a national requirement. (By the way, this inability to communicate effectively takes a terrible toll on national productivity, but that’s a side matter.) The important point is that those who insist on acting as willing pawns in this game are choosing a specific path for themselves. I like to call it the path of voluntary extinction—the guaranteed end result of endlessly plastering societal failure over with bullshit.
The Age of Limits conference is based on a certain view of the future, which was first articulated in the Club of Rome study of 1972, and, in spite of a storm of criticism, has been vindicated because its predictions have turned out to be exactly on target. One of the presenters at this year’s conference will be Dennis Meadows, the co-author of the study. This study predicts that global industrial civilization will have largely run its course in as little as two decades. Those who accept the predictions of this study (the purpose of this conference is to discuss their implications and ramifications) also accept a rather austere view of the future.
In this context, the path of communities that abide is not the path of voluntary extinction. It is the path of survival, the path of individual sacrifice for the benefit of the community and its future generations. The tasks of giving birth to, bring up and educating the next generation while keeping everyone housed, fed, clothed, healthy and entertained will leave scarce time for pursuing higher education or a career outside of home, exploring alternative lifestyle choices, or discussing gender politics. The two most important occupations will be Mother and Father. Small communities have little room for specialization, but a basic level of specialization based on whether you are a boy or a girl has been found to be universally advantageous. This is what I would like to take as the point of departure for this year’s conversation, and leave discussions of gender to the session which will specifically focus on questions of gender and which will be run by Carolyn Baker.
Nice piece of writing…for those interested, here’s the Club of Rome’s “Limits to Growth” synopsis:
http://www.clubofrome.org/flash/limits_to_growth.html
The money quote and one I may make into a bumper sticker:
“This vast landscape of societal failure is obscured behind a verbal veil of political correctness.”
Here is another quote I found somewhere about political correctness:
“To paraphrase Jorge-Luis Borges, political correctness fosters oppression, political correctness fosters servitude, political correctness fosters cruelty, perhaps even more abominable is the fact that it fosters idiocy.”
When the SHTF, all these PC stuff is going to blow away like dust on the wind, but not before a lot of people are killed by its evil consequences.
Fuck PC and the barking moonbats who spew it, I say.
“This is what I would like to take as the point of departure for this year’s conversation, and leave discussions of gender to the session which will specifically focus on questions of gender and which will be run by Carolyn Baker.”
Yeah, good luck with that one Dmitry.
In the past couple of years I’ve spent a good bit of time talking to people interested in intentional community, sustainable living, and transition. What I’ve found is that, even among folks who are more or less aware and awake with regards to collapse topics, a huge range of personal viewpoints exist on how to proceed, or even whether it’s worth it to do anything, in the face of overwhelming challenges.
We all have our sacred cows in this country. In the so-called liberal community, political correctness is a favorite. The neo-cons have their own sacred cows, Libertarians have theirs, too.
My prediction is that local, more sustainable communities will form only when conditions get to a point that makes it impossible to get along without them. Whether or not, at that point, it will still be possible to create communities that function well…that’s another story.
Right now, everyone wants to have his/her cake and eat it too. Feminist women want communities with egalitarian principles that respect their rights. Young people without a pot to piss in want a community that gives them instant vested interest in ownership of land. Older people with substantial assets to bring to the table want to call all the shots.
Eventually, a lot of the BS will be burned away by hardship, and people will do whatever they need to do to get by, and that will involve major changes in how we live. In the mean time, I’m glad we have good writers like Orlov and John Michael Greer writing books that shed some light on how it might be accomplished.
I wanted to attend Age of Limits, but our recent get-together here (by the core group of Diners) in Texas took a lot of time energy and money. Maybe next year, if there is a next year. As a prepper, I tend to spend more effort on tech and training and actual real goods than I do on talking about concepts anyway. Community? I believe that if I build a good place for one, they will come.
Where`s Stuckey? I miss his bad words and no nonsense insight.
“This vast landscape of societal failure is obscured behind a verbal veil of political correctness.”
And the crowning achievement is Obama. A complete and literal failure, and unqualified idiot elected based on his skin color to run an entire country of overfed morons and imbeciles like himself.
Political correctness is nothing less than thought control, perpetrated on whites by liberals and minorities, who don’t practice what they preach. It’s like a mutated virus that infects white people’s brains, changing their thought and speaking patterns, by conformity and threat (of being called a racist, which is tantamount to being a murderer). It’s deadly, if you utter the wrong word near a group of black yuffs, you could be beaten to death or killed. They can say the word a 1000x times while your standing there, but if you’re white and you say it, it could be a death sentence.
Liberal progressives take hypocrisy to new heights, never seen before in human existence, and whites continue to fall for their treachery at every turn. There doesn’t seem to be a limit to this viral thought-control evil, it just gets bigger and worse every day, and mutates into such horseshit as “white privilege” and the like. One of these days, the liberal progressive rubber band is going to snap, and they’re going to be dealt with in a violent manner, equal in share to all the guilt and misery they’re inflicted on stupid white people.
What U talkin’ `bout Willis?
Balzytch, most of the political correctness preached at me is by “liberal” whites lately. “Conservative” whites get mad when U mention how Bush did the same thing, but they kept quiet. Why the double standard?
At first, if U criticized Obomber, blacks would get mad. But, lately, they are seeing that president Uncle Tom doesn’t give a shit about them either. He’d rather keep them on SNAP & EBT & keep them quiet. Many were mad @ Bush & now keep quiet as Obomber shreds the Constitution. The Bush vs. Obomber defenders are beyond help. They are OK with a police state, as long as it’s their guy.
Both groups seem to be full of hypocrites who excuse behavior based on whether the person is of the same race.
Whites & blacks & everyone have been suckered by the mystery moron with the fake birth certificate.
I’m fairly new to Mr. Orlov, but I enjoy immensely reading and listening to him. When the USSR collapsed, I followed it in the news as a matter of curiosity and in college courses as a matter of professional interest. I visited Russia several times, too, and found their way of life and the daily problems they dealt with interesting, awful, and tragic.
Back then, I never thought this knowledge would matter to me as anything more than a historical curiosity. In recent years, I’ve focused on the Argentine and Yugoslav experience as an indicator of future events, but discovering Orlov has led me to return back to Russia and those turbulent times. I’m glad I was interested in that subject from the start and I collected some period books, such as Red Odyssey. Re-visiting those strange days is interesting.
My spouse spent some of her formative years seeing the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, so I have her and her family’s experiences to rely on, as well. Shortages, rationing, martial law, bread lines, etc. Her grandfather was a jack-of-all-trades and managed to survive very well under the Soviets, even though he was originally slated for death as a Kulak. She said he gardened, raised sheep, made yarn to sew his own sweaters, and built his community’s first radio.
I woud love to be able to join a community of like-minded people but who would you trust enough to share such a community? I could see things maybe starting out well enough, but eventually I assume the group would pull apart over various personal politics, drama, shortages and inequality, and the assumption that things weren’t so bad elsewhere.
Wish I could say I could rely on my family, but my extended family, especially the younger generation suck balls. They’re a bunch of ignorant, selfish, system-reiding handout-eating parasites. To top it off, one pair of these pricks sponge off my sibling while simultaneously beating them over the head with their unsupportable strict religious interpretation of the bible. They mainly threaten to refuse to be a part of my sibling’s family if they aren’t catered to, which is pathetic. So family isn’t much of an option at this point. My siblings are cool, but nearly all their kids are shitheads.
As expressed elsewhere, at least with tough times coming a lot of this meaningless crap will be burned away like so much dross, leaving just pure steel.
In 20 years, I bet people will have a hard time believing nearly everything we see today ever mattered. It will probably look like a deam. Fighting over gay marriage or saying “Jesus” in a public meeting will seem so insanely stupid and quaint compared to worries about food, shelter, and disease.
Wasn’t one of Orlov’s earlier article about 14 points that a community should have, but the points were heavily inundated with marxist undertones?
I know its easy to blame political correctness, but this sounds more to me like other people were proposing different ideas on community structure and they didn’t match up with his. Its not necessarily one size fits all. Debating about how we should run things isn’t the problem with political correctness; stifling ideas is. I think Orlov is just upset that he wasn’t instantly hailed.
” I think Orlov is just upset that he wasn’t instantly hailed. ”
Probably at least a grain of truth there, but he was totally blindsided from what I gather from those who were there. And even though it was a tangential issue, the discussion deteriorated into a shit-flinging, name-calling femi-frenzy.
We do seem to be developing a short list of doomer rock stars, and they sometimes suffer from a bit of ego inflation. The sole exception might be the admin. LOL!
“The sole exception (of ego inflation) might be the admin.”
—-Eddie
I’m not sure about that. Here’s Admin working on his next article.
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[/img]
BamBam-I read that article after you mentioned it. You know what it reminds me of? Plato’s Republic. Remember how he explained you would need to create a creation myth for that society so it would know why it was there and what made it special? Seems like Orlov is talking about the same thing. I think the sacrifice of your stuff, aside from personal possessions is a way of burning your ships in the New World to ensure there is no going back. At least you know everyone who makes that sacrifice is committed for the duration, or at least until they write off their losses and give up. I wouldn’t call it Communist, exactly, but it is a communal society with radically different values. I don’t think it would work for long, but other communes in the past have lasted a while. It seems like his community doesn’t work without infusions of cash from the outside. I don’t know if it could work without acquiring a vast amount of land to function on away from civilization. And I wonder how easy it is to remove the profit motive and just convince everyone to work hard for everyone. Seems like that would kill innovation. Why try hard or come up with new ideas if there’s no reward?-Just do your expected part, satisfy your part of the 5 year plan, and wait for the end of your work shift? Ultimately, I think the lure of convenience would doom it if someone tried to start it. It’s an interesting theoretical community, though.
Gender equality + PC + feminism = more leg room for my grandchildren in Elysium.
See laidnyc / unnatural selection
“While it is the entire country that is being victimized by this system of governance based on the principle of social divide and conquer, it is women and minorities that are the pawns in this game, and the biggest losers, with some of the worst outcomes….”
Even this comment by the author reveals a politically correct edge
Women and minorities may be the pawns in this game, but they most certainly have not been the biggest losers. And it is a testament to the sorry state of our First Amendment that one incurs risks of cathedral-backed vilification and intimidation when one dares to name the biggest collective winners or, worse yet, mentions the race and sex of those who have lost the most.
I found this interesting: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/america-under-cultural-dhimmitude/comment-page-5/#comment-6462618
“No matter how openly supportive you may be of LGBT employees, the company wants to track of who identifies as an “ally” openly, and who doesn’t. If they don’t count allies and non-allies, they won’t be able to prove things are “improving” nor will they be able to target managers for further inclusion coaching. So, by making it “safer” for some employee demographics to be open about their personal lives, they’re inadvertently closeting others.
Don’t get me wrong. The end game is as Big Brotherish as you present. People need to be made aware of what’s coming.”