Guest Post by Articles of Confederation
“Henry David Thoreau said in his essay on civil disobedience that non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. And I do not plan to cooperate with evil at any point.” – Martin Luther King, 14 JAN 1968, Santa Rita, CA
2008 started off as a joyous year for my wife and me. We had our first child – a sweet little boy – early that year, and we were close to purchasing a home in Alexandria, Virginia. Even though I’ve been a Nomad my entire life, I always knew I’d meander back to the Old Dominion. After all, it was the place of my birth and that of my childhood hero, GEN George Washington. I vividly recall the last time I visited his palatial Mount Vernon estate and how, as I gazed off his porch toward the Potomac, there was no place I’d rather be than in the Commonwealth.
Ahh, the yarns I could weave about our Colonial history and the founding of a great nation, of a storied culture, of a rugged people…but I imagine those stories that started 400 some-odd years ago are only of interest to historians and romantics. And if truth be told, I myself lost the passion of storytelling somewhere between October 2008 and today. Well, except for one: My own, post-TARP journey through American Oblivion.
It was not even several months into my son’s life when Washington jumped the shark. Here he was, an innocent child born in an emergency C-section who was lucky to be alive. I remember my wife and I making arrangements with a pediatric surgeon to deal with some complications he had had. We had to wait until the 6-month marker before he could be put under anesthesia for a major surgery. It’s a humbling experience, being a parent. On the one hand, you feel blessed to have this perfect being who is entirely dependent on all that you do. But on the other, you’re frightened for his or her physical and spiritual well-being in a fallen, corrupt world.
On some higher level, you convince yourself that fear, anxiety, and worry, while normal, have no place in the logical mind. Everything is a problem to analyze and you, the Invincible Engineer, can solve it! That is, until Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Neel Kashkari, Paul Kanjorski, Nancy Pelosi, John McCain, and the rest of the Clown Car Brigade launch a national campaign of TERROR on the nation while you’re sitting (literally) in Children’s Hospital. Here are these revolting cretins, throwing around $23.7 TRILLION of taxpayer money to bail out everyone with a pulse. Well, everyone except Main Street. See, none of us was Too Big to Fail. Mindfuck doesn’t exactly cover it. It was more akin to nauseous, red-pilled Neo Anderson meets Lori Strode, with the Federal Reserve serving as florist in the Little Shop of Horrors.
Have you forgotten these events? I haven’t. I suppose that Morris Massey would have concluded that TARP was a Significant Emotional Event (SEE) for me. For certain, though, John Adams would have nudged me in the courtroom of life and whispered, “Then and there the Child Independence was born.” Within one year, my family and I packed up and left Virginia for good, on to safer pastures and in the pursuit of happiness. It was obvious to the discerning eye where America was headed. I for one was no longer willing to cooperate with career liars and moneychangers.
***
“A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.” – Martin Luther King, 1 JAN – 28 FEB 1947, Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA
I had just finished a whirlwind reading tour that included The Fourth Turning (T4T), The Creature from Jekyll Island, James Madison’s Papers, and myriad other novels when I stumbled on The Burning Platform (TBP). I had searched for “Fourth Turning” and found myself falling down another rabbit hole. And it was a good excursion indeed; there was educational material from Jim Quinn, really low IQ dipshittery from Stucky, and paranoid oddities from Reverse Engineer. Keep in mind that back then, not a lot of folks had even heard of T4T let alone opined about it. It was great! While Jim was increasing my intelligence, Smokey and his bunker hugging was decreasing it, so the law of averages worked out swell!
Over the next several years, I digested most of the blog posts and even more of the comments section as a non-participant. (Mostly.) Newbies around these parts learn pretty darned quick not to poke their heads above ground too often. Prairie dogging is for turds, not TBP posters. See, Llpoh is a more successful version of Carl Spackler, and I learned it the hard way when “schooling” him on some forgotten manufacturing topic of the day. How could this fucking Injun get so uppity?
Here’s the real kicker though. I found myself respecting him more than any other poster on here. And little did I know I would NEED his (and others’) written wisdom and trash talk. In a two-year span (2016-2017), my son was kicked out of Catholic school. My daughter lost her hair due to an autoimmune disorder. We had an oops pregnancy. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer while our “oops” was one year old – 13 days after the little one’s birthday. And my sister was diagnosed with an even more aggressive breast cancer.
As a reformed Catholic – otherwise known as an “atheist” – one begins to question the meaning of life in the foxhole…and boy, was I knee-deep in Fire Swamp lightning sand. Who do you turn to during a calamitous mess like this? Who can relate to your anger, despair, sadness, and guilt? One day, I vividly recall sitting in the recovery room with my wife while she was napping. I decided to start a fight on TBP with a particular poster and made it my mission to rile him up so bad that he physically threatened me. (In case you, Dear Reader, were wondering: Yes, he is a current poster, and no, he likely doesn’t remember the course of events.)
But that brief interlude of moon-howling didn’t fix the world, my family, or me. Hell, I didn’t even know how lost I was. What it all boiled down to was one, simple truism: “Get busy living or get busy dying.”
***
“And on some positions, Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But Conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.” – Martin Luther King, 14 JAN 1968, Santa Rita, CA
It never ceases to amaze me how a few years can completely change the essence of a person. There were days when it was a struggle to put one foot in front of the other. But for the grace of God, I don’t know how I held a senior level IT management position in a publicly traded company in the midst of the chaos. It was only compounded when my employee’s wife passed away from a rare cancer at the age of 41.
But then, the good days outweighed the bad. The danse macabre subsided; the whirling dervish calmed himself. I felt this calling to reconnect with nature at a meaningful – no, profound – level. At the time, folks muttered that I had finally gone cuckoo bananas. Perhaps a bit, but there was more to it. I had always appreciated nature, mind you, but I played basketball and lifted weights to burn off steam. No one in my entire life would have expected me to “go granola”, as my sister put it.
Somewhere along the line, my Give-a-Shit-O’-Meter permanently bottomed at ZERO. Zip. Zilch. When I told my wife that I was going to completely rebuild the bottom two acres into a permaculture orchard, she must have had some prodigious seeds of doubt, to say the least! After all, I was told by conventional agricultural wisdom that it couldn’t be done. But she trusted me; what was once a semi-arid cedar glade is close to becoming a 125+ tree heirloom apple orchard and micro-farm which will feed 25-50 families within two more years.
Perhaps I will expound upon that endeavor on a separate occasion. It has not been easy and could aptly be described as a series of successes and failures, but with more of the former than the latter. Truly, though, the intent of this article is not to provide an education in orcharding.
What the heck does any of this have to do with the present day? I’ll tell you. If someone as flawed as me can get through the above and rediscover his total love – agape – for God, family, and self, then anyone can do it. As a people, it is imperative that we stop living in blindfolded fear. We must stop the constant warfare, the murder, the gravedigging…and start planting gardens. The title of this article came to me as I listened to Brandon Lake unwittingly speak to my soul.
This nation is headed down a very dark path and my greatest near-term concern is for the food security of the citizenry. As I see it, we are on a path to internal war if the Establishment is unable to foment a war with an exogenous enemy (China) first. Control of the food supply will be a critical component, so take command of your own supply chain and that of your neighbors as time and money permits. We’re going to need all the help we can get as we approach 2024. But most importantly, don’t let these bastards sow the seeds of despair, doubt, and TERROR! Shun them; refuse to cooperate with shysters; focus on your local community; always do what’s right; and have faith in God and yourself.
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
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Wow, good article AofC. I will be the first to say that I don’t always agree with you on posts but, then I am assuming you have the same feeling about me. That said, I totally agree with what you just said in your article. I for one am getting long in the tooth for the kind of crap that is coming down these days. I just don’t have it in me to roll over for the asshat’s that think they are running the total show. I am continuing to work on community and self reliance at every level and teaching others to do the same. I can only hope more folks follow your lead and start building community again. The fear and panic around this covid-19 bull crap is dividing folks like never before. It is also the largest erosion of rights to date. At present we are in a war that few can identify or care about. I pray that folks move past the denial stage and advance into reality sooner than later for their own good. I hope and pray your article opens a few more eyes.
Excellent and Bob’s your Uncle. I made a profession of assessing risk in the absence of bias as a safety engineer and risk consultant. The bad flu has convinced many that we are only a movie trailer away from Holy Grails bring out your dead people. How easily are the masses mind fu*ked by the media driven Left who had until recently pretty much spent all of their ammo to get Trump. But the new faux plague has been delivered on the silver platter so now we have Covid this and that 24/7/365 and you are slowly brainwashed. And the basket case Italy that started the ball rolling had in 2013 and 2017 64000 dead from seasonal flu in 2 seasons. They have 22000 dead from the media plague of death so even Italy will likely have lower CV mortality than influenza. But no matter. We still allow the media to stop the world and unemploys millions in the proceess just so they can finally get rid of Trump in Nov. I hate these people…..they seem almost despicable.
They don’t seem despicable. They *are* despicable. And karma has one hell of a bill due soon.
If you think this is all about Trump then…….. deeper down the rabbit hole for you.
Great commentary. Good to hear from you as always.
It brings to mind my current struggles to do as my conscience dictates and still be able to make a living in this world.
I feel as though the PC cancel culture is starting to lose some power, but now that abject fear has taken hold, that’s the new cancel culture. Karens will cancel you, scream out your lack of cooperation with the PTB to “stay safe”
A friend of mine had her first bout of FB censorship, and she was astounded it happened. I laughed it off and told her welcome to the club, it’s been happening for a long time. It was directly related to the virus and Dr. Apocalypse and the numbers.
I think it made her realize what’s really happening, because she now completely sees the forest and the trees.
I told her to forget public platforms like FB, and instead email and talk DIRECTLY to people, that is now the only way to pass a message anymore without the PC police either shutting you down or shaming you into silence.
I contemplate my garden this year more than ever before, and now am in the market for some back yard chickens.
People who were before on the fence, who had some soft spot for “government benevolence” are now starting to see the bitch-slap that is this lockdown.
The cognitive dissonance is troubling, and many will not or cannot handle it. Why, they ask, if fatalities are going down are restrictions ramping up? Why is Whole Foods telling us we HAVE to wear masks if this is starting to turn the corner? Hasn’t the horse left the barn?
A few people I know actually did go and drive up to some local inner-city hospitals, and they tell stories of staff standing around. Quiet waiting rooms, no panic. Ambulance drivers just sitting there, by the curb, on their cell phones. They are now telling this story to others, who also make a visit. And so it goes.
The jig is very much up, and people are merely waiting to see if the PTB are going to try and drag this out for another 4 weeks or give up the ghost and call it a day.
If they graciously say “thank you for working with us” and allow us to open up and live our lives then I think all will be reasonably well with that.
But I have zero faith that the insane Dems will allow that to happen. They will immolate themselves on their never-ending pyre of stupidity and anger. They will somehow make it a failure. If one 97 year old with COPD and emphysema dies and they might have Covid, then they will scream to the heavens about lockdown.
They are already setting us up for a fall lock down, which good luck with that. Too many are aware of the bullshittery and assholery that has gone along with this, and quite frankly if they never saw Dr. Apocalypse again it would be too soon.
Bottom line, talk to your neighbors. Let them know you are there for them. Talk to them like a rational human being. Don’t walk around with damn masks like this is the black death. Don’t hoard toilet paper.
As I see it, this is the last chance of Awakening that we are going to get. At least when the USSR collapsed, an enormous percentage of the population lived along the Trans-Siberian Railway, with southern connections into China. So shipments could still be sent, supplies restocked, etc. America gave in to the Teamsters a long time ago. It makes no sense really. Diesel locomotives get 250-400 mpg, so it’s not an environmental concern. And we’ve shipped our manufacturing overseas.
It’s asinine.
Great article.
Identify with what you say about Virginia. Not a native, but lived there 35 years, left around 2000. Loved the history. Lived in NoVa, so the state I knew is long gone in several ways.
Regarding railroads, I have read that legislation in the 1930s and 40s gave incredible wages and benefits to railroad workers. Even here, railroad workers earn more than many attorneys and probably physicians. After WWII, the railroads went freight to cut the number of employees.
Very nice read A of C.
One of my kids has gotten me interested in a gizmo called a farmbot which would allow indoor farming. Very interesting, especially if it works. The anecdotes keep piling up with stories of people putting their hands in the dirt. The local Tractor Supply is selling chicks like crazy and HSF says he could move a lot of piglets.
Perhaps huge numbers determined to be self-reliant is the revolution?
That is my hope and prayer. But more importantly, I’d like good people to survive and to become reasonably self-sufficient again. The current system is one of slavery to a centralized food supply. He who controls the food supply controls the populace.
I believe it is the reverse that is more true. The government that does not manage the food supply is in deep shit.
Don’t give Nancy Schumer any ideas
Quoting Henry Kissinger again, I see
“Perhaps huge numbers determined to be self-reliant is the revolution?”
One hopes that the answer to your question is yes; no self-reliance, no revolution, at least not one that anyone would want. If ever there were a mass movement toward self-reliance to the degree possible, it would be world-changing. That is how subsidiarity begins: first the family, then the property, then the commitment. The skids are greased if it’s an extended family working together. Community groups form, local concerns are addressed by citizens not politicians, citizens ready to form a small unit of government that leads on to units of government on a larger scale. It implies massive repudiation of debt and what would be revolutionary overhaul of the society.
We (my son and I) are planning to ramp up ag activities on our farmlette. This will mean employing some folks, although not when my son is here. He has a water well drilling business and travels to sites all over the country,often spending a week on site. My daughter-in-law has three tykes six and under to care for, so she’s limited in what she can do. I foresee significant shortages and higher prices ahead given supply chain problems that could clobber Argentina, but folks will manage come what may. They’re used to it, after all.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the self-reliance virus spreads and gets the same amount of attention as the corona virus!
Well done AofC. Excellent read.
Some people give up in the face of adversity but you have triumphed. God bless you and yours and best results with your efforts.
AOC, great read and an even greater message.
I started my garden inside ( grow room) like I do every year and it should be in my hydroponic setup outside, I just can’t get into it, this shit has me depressed big time. I’ve been telling everyone to start growing food for the last two, three months and nobody is doing anything, I don’t want my labor being stolen again. It’s a lot of work when you work full time and grow food and then someone steals your shit ( again).
Great read, I’ll read it again and maybe find some motivation to get it done.
The important thing today is making the mistakes and learning from them now, and less about getting to dine on the results. It’s a far more difficult lesson to learn about soil pH requirements for blueberries when there’s no Lowe’s, hence no sphagnum amendment.
I’ve talked about LTG Mixon in the past. He was a great leader, a good Christian, tough as hickory but understanding. I remember him counseling me one day when I was frustrated about a mistake I had made. He looked me dead in the eye, put his hand on my shoulder, and said, “Son, guess what? You now have another bullet point for our Lessons Learned slide in the daily briefing.”
I’ve taken that wisdom with me for almost two decades now.
Thanks so much for sharing AOC. I’ve appreciated your insights all these years, even though I didn’t always agree. Haven’t been through the tribulations you have, but am so glad you have come out on the other end unscathed, and that you have found God in this world. Have faith in God and yourself indeed.
Growing food is indeed therapeutic. Got seed started in the basement, beds ready, peas and lettuce coming up. It does the soul a world of good and connects one to God.
Of course cranking to some great punk rock tune while weeding is even better….
AOC.
Heck of a journey you had. Hope your Kids are well now. It couldn’t have been me you agitated because I never threaten anyone. I did tell Llpoh to quit talking trash and fly to montana and told him to meet me in the National forest and to bring friends with lots of guns and I’ll be alone.
Nope, not you. 🙂 My daughter is still bald and I am OK with it. I don’t like it, I think God should have done it to me, but there’s gotta be a reason. You would love this little girl…she has the biggest heart and I really don’t think 99% of folks could go through it. You learn really quickly how important a hair is to a woman’s identity.
We each have Crosses to bear. Some of us just need to get kicked in the nuts a little harder than others. It’s made me fearless and I suppose where we’re headed, that’s a useful skill to have?
I know about lost hair. That’s for sure. Mark shaved my head when my hair started falling out after my first chemo treatment. I’ll have to see if I still have the pic. I changed phones and lost some pics somehow.
I thought my hair would never grow back. It is important to us.
I sent Jim a couple of the articles that had been written about my wife and daughter. That was for him though, no one else. Funny thing, the Fox News article was a bullshit news aggregation that got her actual quotes to the REAL journalists (our metro paper and The Daily Mail of all media) wrong. My wife is living proof that Fox is Faux.
Then People and Cosmo wanted to interview her and I said, “NO”. She was overwhelmed. These bastards just want to sell sell sell…they don’t care about heartbreak.
My two oldest shaved her head on the front porch while my baby watched. One day, my wife called our baby to come to her and she had this look like she didn’t recognize her mother. That was a bad day.
“Bring lots of guns and I’ll be alone ”
Sounds just like something you would say.?
Michigan.
You can screw some of the people some of the time, but screw all the people all the time, and you get this in the USA, REVOLT!!! https://www.zerohedge.com/political/and-it-beings-angry-michiganders-surround-capital-building-demand-governor-reopen-economy
“Surround capital and demand governor to reopen economy”
Think about that gor a minute. The people demand one person tonopen the economy. Those people ARE the economy.
Stucky.
Old Pangloss said the Col. held a ceremony of some sort, his buddy Ray Cruz had taught his particular favorite terms to the whole squadron and the Col. was eager to show how hep he was. He peppered his speech with Ray’s ‘mamao’ and ‘chingao’ and got lots of laughs. Afterwards, Sgt Kareno complimented the Col. It was a great speech, he said, but my wife was offended by all the cursing. I think Flea mentioned that a writer ought to read what he writes before posting it, there are a lot of people here who honor and respect Stucky as well as LLPOH. That kinda took much away from your message.
I love Stucky, but I have to bust his balls because I feel his pain, deeply. He is a good man.
Life is just too serious right now. We need to make fun of each other and ourselves or we’ll go insane in all the pandemonium.
But no, never did I ever pick a fight with him. No one will guess. 🙂
EC, I’ve literally walked through the valley of the shadow of death. I’m not a future author of the caliber of Edgar Allen Poe or a brilliant engineer along the lines of Robert Fulton. I’m just your average guy with nothing to lose. I speak and write from where I stand, right now, and make no apologies for it. I wrote this on a rainy day to hopefully encourage others to think like an agrarian chess player.
It was a nice article until that part. It reminded me of the Ray Cruz story. Big Red says she expects a certain amount of flack during her exhibitions. I’m not sure if she’s a stripper, she didn’t elaborate but the point is that no matter how carefully you write it, somebody like watash is going to complain. I’m amazed that you have managed to keep it together so well.
My ex-niece had a kid who never developed beyond diaper stage. Her sister told her that God knows who he will entrust such children to.
Well I love you man, thanks for the support. And your boy Stucky. I had a difficult time with his recent travesty and if I’m being fully honest was one of the major reasons I left for a bit. That, and a mild winter buying me time.
I wish I could say *I* held it together well. I really was a full-blown, dyed-in-the-wool atheist for years. Part of it was a tough childhood mixed with raw cynicism and a hard science background. No joke, Christ carried me through this mess when I wasn’t a believer. I didn’t hold a damn thing together other than putting on a good front for the kids.
Breast cancer is absolutely devastating to a young mother. The disease doesn’t just tear the woman apart, it tears the marriage and the family apart. Or has the potential to if you let it. I am FIRMLY convinced that our food supply is corrupted Franken Food causing a good chunk of our ailments.
The FDA has allowed Glyphosate to soak our entire food supply since the 80s. We didn’t know what hit us until it was too late.
Man that was a great read, really.
I am so proud for you, for following your conscience, sticking through things when they got tough and finding a way to make the world a better place.
Thanks for sharing it.
AOC: Damn son, you have been thru the wringer and come out the other side a wiser and stronger man. I daresay most of us have had our share of troubles and more. When you’re in it it feels like eternity and nothing will ever get better. I’m really grateful you shared this and admire your perseverance and determination.
I also share your concern with the potential food shortages, perhaps at a later date you could expound on your permaculture experiences?
HSF, that means a lot, sir. You and Llpoh are inspirations to me. I wish I could shake Llpoh’s hand but the bastard lives across the pond. He helped get me through some nasty business. Both the wisdom and the Grumpy Old Man comments. 🙂
Well done faced my own demons and health issues and started a hydroponic garden . First season modest success , just completed a back to back hospital stay $13 grand and then $15 grand as I was starting a garden expansion
I ignore most of the DC and Annapolis government noise and judge the distance now . I posted here as Boat Guy but my wife was afraid I may bring the boogey man down on us so …
Good luck with your endeavors and family health
AoC glad to hear your agrarian pursuits. I understand what you mean about Virginia but I can say for a fact that there are plenty of places in Virginia where you wouldn’t even notice the ‘shut down’.
I’ll always love the Commonwealth, but I saw the writing on the wall. There are so many primary targets in the Virginia-Maryland-DC Metro Area that it’d look like one gigantic red dot on a Johns Hopkins ArcGIS map. The entire world will turn DC into a smoldering crater at the first opportunity, if the citizens don’t first.
I’ve said it ever since the lockdown. People can agree with me or not, but it won’t change my perspective or path one iota. Whenever I ignore my gut I get in deep shit.
Where are you located? I’m in McLean and everyone but the Latinos are wearing masks and gloves. The Latinos know something everyone else doesn’t? Actually, I went to Safeway this evening and everyone but half the whites were in masks and gloves.
Nobody in Nowhere, VA (;{)>
AoC,
Strong post, your personal backstory is heartfelt, compelling, and righteous.
As beings who are human…we have much in common. I will lift you and yours up…that is a promise I will keep.
I have taken a break from spending time on TBP since my Daughter, Son in law, and Grandson pulled the (long discussed) trigger five weeks ago on our plan for them to bug out of their Westchester suburban NY home (as National Guardsmen were surrounding a neighboring town) and hunker down with my wife and I as what I believe could be the start of…and continues to be…the controlled demolition of our economy and our Constitution.
I must admit this massive international/national reaction to this ‘virus of dubious origin and impact’ is one of the most deviously brilliant, and successful international operations in history on multiple fronts.
The 9-11 operators were pikers.
Like you and many here I am a lifelong arm chair historian, FED investigator, 4th Corner page turner, and ‘Prepper’ decades before the term was coined. (I guess I was called a ‘Survivalist’ then by the cattle, sheeple, and their invisible puppet master – Mocking Bird handlers).
I see myself as just a late but flowering blooming boomer (the generation doesn’t matter but the end game is everything) in realization that Jesus Christ was not a liar, or insane, but was exactly who He said He was.
As I read the clarion call of your last paragraph:
“This nation is headed down a very dark path and my greatest near-term concern is for the food security of the citizenry. As I see it, we are on a path to internal war if the Establishment is unable to foment a war with an exogenous enemy (China) first. Control of the food supply will be a critical component, so take command of your own supply chain and that of your neighbors as time and money permits. We’re going to need all the help we can get as we approach 2024. But most importantly, don’t let these bastards sow the seeds of despair, doubt, and TERROR! Shun them; refuse to cooperate with shysters; focus on your local community; always do what’s right; and have faith in God and yourself.”
I have no doubt famine is coming…I can hear the four horse’s hoofs thundering…
My Harvest Right Freeze Dryer is humming in the background…we are focusing on steaks and eggs…because the Luciferian Globalists and the government can kiss my ass…one cheek Mick…the other Wop.
We’re close in heritage, my friend. One cheek Mick, the other Frog. And the Frog cheek resembles Henri of Navarre rather than Macron.
Good read. I would enjoy hearing about what you’ve learned with your orchard.
AOC
Unless I’m mistaken, this is your first posted article. I remember asking you to do this some time ago. Glad to see you took the time. I also had no idea you’ve been around TBP as long as Stucky, LLPOH, Smokey and even myself (I’ve changed my nickname a few times). Have you always gone by AOC?
Pro Tip (a pro once told me): Don’t trash regoolas (EC, how does Stuck spell that again?) in articles. It is unbecoming of your intelligence.
Work in Progress (if memory serves me) :), I love Stucky…he is a good man and can handle low brow humor. His pain is real and I can both empathize and sympathize. But I kid the way I kid and wear my heart on my sleeve and will never ever change.
I have lurked for a very long time, probably one of the oldest. The wise man learns to listen much before speaking little, or less. (But in all seriousness, I’m busy as shit. I’ve had a plan since OCT 2008 and had a couple of setbacks as you can see. I have been in overdrive for 6 years now.)
If my timeline is right, I won’t have much time to write even if I were good at it. I may do an FAQ or something on fruit trees, or hugelkultur or something, I don’t know. I’d just be happy if I encouraged one person to start growing maters.
Well, I enjoyed your posting. Good luck to you and yours. Btw, I had 2 names before WIP.
Thank you, sir.
Who was the first? Zara or SSS? I wasn’t reading much between 2013-2014 or so while we were in the process of relocating to TN.
No, and I can’t even believe I used the first one. It was a very high and mighty nickname. I was the opposite of you. I came out of the gate hollering and fighting. I was a real mess in 08. I was some kind of pissed off and mad about everything that was taking place. Admin got me hooked on him and his blog when he sent me a Ron Paul CD.
We’ve all had our days if not months and years. I was infuriated between about 2008-2010 and actually thought the TEA Party would make a difference. There’re a lot of things I don’t believe I ever did, said, or felt.
So throughout most of that time I was reading everything I could get my hands on with respect to history and the economy. I wanted to know if we have been here before and if so, how it was solved in the past. I wanted to know everything from the history of the Wisselbank to James Madison’s thoughts on the inflation of the Spanish Empire.
I don’t think the active posters here realize how many lurkers there are and what a profound impact this site has.
It sounds like you are on your way to having some nice bartering chips and what I like to call an economic engine outside of the money masters grip if that is even possible.
I’m working on my own solution. I can’t imagine ever being a HSF but that would be incredible. I have 3 things working against me. 1) age, 2) my wife. She is a city gal. I believe when I am ready I may become a country gentleman with a city slicker booty call, and 3) time. Not the same as age mind you.
Not Zara or sss that’s for sure. Anybody seen Tampa?
Or maybe Billy.
I thought Billy was banned.
You asshole. No, not Billah.
🙂
Tennessee? Tennessee is high on my list of places to retire.
Check this out…
https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/tennessee/black-population-percentage#map
So there was an old Civil War 2 book written by a guy in the 1990s I think. He was dead-on with respect to the white enclave in TN and northern AL. Basically, stay E of Jackson. Ideally stick to Williamson if you can afford it. Plenty of land and within decent commute time from downtown.
As for retirement…none of us is going to retire. My $.02.
My retirement would include making furniture for a living until the day I die. So, I would need lots of treed acreage.
Plenty of that in Williamson. Find a property with a big cedar glade. You’ll have Eastern red cedars coming out your ass. Better get ’em before I turn them all to mulch and raise the terrain 12″ with it.
Iowa is 91% white. From what I can see with people moving there is that 92% is coming sooner than later.
regulah?
I guess Stuck-n-z-doich will have to come back and spell it for us.
How would you spell that in German?
Thank you for the wonderful post, Articles.
You are an inspiration, as are so many others on this blog.
The permaculture orchard sounds fascinating, I need to find some research material, as I have the space, and will have the time soon by the looks of things.
You touched on your spiritual journey briefly, good for you for finding peace.
Dark times are indeed coming. It makes me sad and I try not to focus too much on the future and just enjoy what I have now, for I know not how long I will have it.
Dark times will bring out the best in some and the worst in others. I may veer back and forth between both of those extremes until I find my sea legs.
Wisdom and discernment are going to be needed in copious amounts to be able to weather the storm we have before us.
Thank you for sharing your journey with us, AOC.
AoC
What an absolute blessing your article is. TBP is lifted with your thoughts.
Lately I was gifted yet another history book. I’m not fond of reading them so much any more as I’ve grown tired of the unending theme that runs through them.
Conquer and defense and anything else is fence sitting.
However true and tried and tiresome, I decided to pick the book up by McCullough, given to me by a great sister. (not at all my favorite historian
but he’s an easy read and it happens to be a pretty good time to reintroduce myself to hamanitys common theme).
Anyway, there’s a letter written by a father to his son. Hopefully it will be able to be entered here. Having just read HSF article the night before I felt I’d like to post it. You’ve given me that opportunity.
“I have earnestly wished you to have a good farm, to establish if possible a good landed interest in preference to trade or any other object. For there is nothing in this country that will render a man so completely independent and secure against the difficulties which arise from the changes which the times, the state and the country and other contingencies may occasion and which are and always will be, taking place in the world.”
We should pray for each others cognizance to be more fully awakened in the years ahead on this site. Many, many people are seriously unaware of what has recently happened.
Thank you again for such a fine piece.
1000 thumbs up, AOC. Thanks for that..
I agree. Twas a good read.
It’s alive…
Good read, A of C…….
I was 1200 miles from home working in Louisa (N. Anna) in 08, and down in Smithfield working Surry plant in spring of 09. My wife flew out to Norfolk when I took a layoff, and we went up 95 to visit DC together. Lasted one day, and I headed west to four lane roads and sanity…..
” We must stop the constant warfare, the murder, the gravedigging…and start planting gardens.”
Nice idea, but it’s not going to happen. I think that was kind of the original intent for all of us…..until the Nachash entered and deceived.
“This nation is headed down a very dark path and my greatest near-term concern is for the food security of the citizenry.”
All by plan.
I remember reading about Smithfield Foods being sold to the Chinese in 2013, having lived in a motel there in Smithfield, Va. for two months a few yrs earlier:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8223423/Chinese-owned-Smithfield-Foods-shutters-two-meat-processing-plants-Missouri-Wisconsin.html
I never was blessed with any children, and I am the last of my father’s name, so the burden of this realization has perhaps, skewed my perspectives on a future day of restoration. The Book a preacher read over my father’s grave says, to me, that what is approaching is far more than a ‘4th turning’ (I never heard of that book until I saw it referenced here).
I’ve lived across from a grade school for 35+ yrs, and have a neighborhood full of kids playing all the time….and it chaps my ass to see what the TLPTB are doing ! When the 7 yr. old girl and her little brother are playing in the yard next door, normal laughter abounds…..but then I hear ‘Emmie’ warning little ‘Ben’ about “covid 19 making everybody sick”…………….GRRRRRRR
annuit coeptis novus ordo seclorum <<——-== DC is Pergamon
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/pergamon-2/
I'm not sure how the Strauss and Howe book ends……..
"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." Rev. 22: 20,21
ordo, I’ll die before I give up on the average American. I’m stubborn as a mule, which is good…and bad. 🙂 I have two goals for the next 4 years. 1) Get to the point where I can feed 50 families. 2) Before that point, wake up as many people as possible to the joys of working the Earth with their own hands.
So picture each row of trees as raised mounds with 15′ spacing in between trees, and 20′ between rows. In between each tree mound I have also bermed it up with about 16″ of mulch. I believe at the end of the day if I stop going nuts with the planting, I’ll have 133 trees. So that is 132 spaces about 8′ x 12′ on which to plant their gardens. Space is not an issue. They just need to bring a bag or two of non-Miracle Gro garden soil and they don’t need to till.
I have faith that each person can make a difference.
Admirable goals, indicative of a quality dad…and I hope you succeed. As for me, I don’t even know what ‘the average American’ is anymore, groomed by a system that paints portfolios and possessions as the ultimate achievements…..
The picture you paint is near perfect, and what I see foremost is the amount of good, hard dirt work labor that is behind it…..and nights full of hard sleep as a result of it.
Each person, without a doubt, can make a difference…..as you and many others that hang around here are.
annuit coeptis novus ordo seclorum <<——==
AoC,
I for one want to hear more about the permaculture-food forest design considerations. I am struggling in the planning stage of that, and it is long past time to move off planning paper and into execution. Any design criteria, and especially lessons learned, both things that were good and mistakes, would be helpful to me. I am in eastern PA, near our host geographically.
One of the things I am wrestling with is how to integrate some kind of animal (probably chicken or rabbit is some kind of tractor) to work between the rows. I do think it is imperative to have both permaculture (trees, bushes perennial) as well as garden (annual/biannual) and animals working in concert. Maybe it is best to just seperate them, but I do think ‘stacking’ them would be very useful, I just can’t figure out how to do it in a way that is actually efficient from a human labor input perspective.
Next rainy couple of days I’ll try and start a series. I’ll write something up so you don’t make the same mistakes I did. Or maybe I’ll do a YT although I am an introvert and hate social media. I’ll also try and discuss what I haven’t experimented with yet.
I pray everyone on this board will either work toward self-sufficiency or get there within the next 4 years. There’re too many awake people on this board to not be doing so. The knowledge is the most important component.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundredth_monkey_effect
Lots of resources at the site, permies.com. Also, the survival podcast guy, to some extent.
The problem with permies is that it’s kinda all over the place, like an Old School forum hierarchy with structured search. Better to just write shorter articles dealing with a topic on WordPress, which has unstructured search, and answer questions in the comments section.
aoc,
good article,keep writing–
ordo,the story you linked above about ancient permagon was a good one–
did you read the bio about the author?ironic with what’s going on in the world,she’s an archaeologist & an expert on epidemics in the ancient roman world–
Tampa…
I thought it was a good read, but hadn’t noticed the author’s bio….kinda weird
From the days of black and white tv and a Hercules movie on sat. nite, I’ve wondered about those old ruins….never been there, though
annuit coeptis novus ordo seclorum <<——==
Nigga please! Don’t try to give me shit from a nigger communist.
Well said, AoC.
Lots of great comments from those who I tend to gravitate towards.
A couple of things really strike me from your article.
As Christians, it is imperative that we consider others in the midst of their distress. That goes against worldly logic but your garden plans bear out that concept. Doesn’t mean to throw away discernment, but it is supposed to be a foundational theme.
But most importantly, don’t let these bastards sow the seeds of despair, doubt, and TERROR! Shun them; refuse to cooperate with shysters; focus on your local community; always do what’s right; and have faith in God and yourself.
Don’t focus on the World At Large (world system?) and try to follow that paradigm because the world has no interest in you, except as something to be used for its own agenda.
And this absolutely leaps out of your words at me;
Relationships – that’s the core of our existence, in whatever permutations revealed.
Bless your day, Brother.
AoC – I too had some very dark times long ago. I had always been spiritual but not where he wanted me to be looking back. My mother passed this along to me long ago and I believe it carried me through. Congrats on your awakening! PS: some tips on Blueberry planting would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”
Footprints. I had a plaque hanging on my wall as a kid, alongside the Prayer of St. Francis.
My mother had one too and that is how she shared this with me. Once she passed I wanted it badly. Estate squabbles within my immediate family quashed those hopes. Half sister (executor) put the screws to me and my biological sister pretty bad. But the verse has always remained in my mind and nothing can take that! 🙂
And it’s the Truth. Even when I was an atheist I’d have these tiny seeds, tiny as New Zealand white clover seed, that I was wrong.
There’s really no way to explain it other than to say “claro” (I believe) in Spanish. Where it encompasses far more than mere “understanding”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWPtGUh9dDw
Whoa…dude that is incredible. Thank you, that’s getting passed on.
They Live.
They are a big club,
but they are no longer allowing any new members to join.
Plandemic.
“Nobody could have predicted..!”
AofC up until today you have been one of the commenters I respect among us hoi polloi. Today you are no longer hoi polloi, you are now respected author.
Great Job!
Your personal account of your journey was/is uplifting. I look forward to more articles in the future.
…and I can’t grow blueberries but I’m trying again. It’s the only thing I’ve flat out failed at, which makes no sense with a blueberry U pick a mile away.
Regardless, I bought peat and worked it into the soil. Sourcing plants has been difficult during Lockdown. The beds are ready and waiting. I did get some tiny Jerseys to start with. Still looking for BlueGold and Legacy.
Oops, used the wrong browser and showed up as Anonymous.
Got my Legacy and Sweetheart here. I have had mixed results with their offerings but these did well.
https://www.berriesunlimited.com
In the news -> they’re glad the pastor is dead.
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2020/04/15/cnns-lemon-slams-pastor-killed-virus-let-be-lesson
New maps released by the USGS show where the power is most likely to fail: The Denver metropolitan area, the Pacific northwest, the Atlantic seaboard, and a cluster of Midwestern states near the US-Canadian Border.
Enjoyed reading that. Been a reader of TBP and posting comments since the days of Smokey (2010?), so many of those names are familiar.
Congrats on conquering your challenges, AofC.
Shame you couldn’t run away from it all like your hero llpoh did.
What if the reason the elites were worried about covid-19 was because it potentially affects them, versus the rest of that list? It’s not like they’ve ever given a shit about the commoners, so lock them in their homes.
Prayers needed.
My wife at 4:00am this morning woke with 103 temp…..she is already compromised in health so I can only hope and pray she does not have covid as the outcome would be unknown!
You got ’em. I am sorry to hear this, John.