Sager,
Awesome story - what a unique and interesting approach.
We've got several "town" meetings coming up this next week, and I'm planning on going to them, and getting a feel for what people are talking about. I've ordered a copy of the "crash course" with presenters materials 'just in case'.
One of these upcoming meetings is about a community garden, and I'm hoping it'll provide an opportunity to really introduce permaculture, and the idea of getting a community market going. There has been a big push as of late to start buying and selling our produce locally - and I think that we have a receptive crowd for both permaculture, and the crash course.
That said - I'll be taking some of your ideas with me! I think that a nice, casual meet-up at interval is a great way to put aside divisive things, and just be friends.
Cheers, and thanks for sharing!
Aaron
I'd say I'm probably more of a double-agent, I'm allowed into the boys' clubhouse easier, but sometimes slip up and say things like "Um, dudes, I think we're way too close to be pushing that button".
Hey folks --
If you're on this site, it seems likely you're somewhere on the spectrum between "things in the world seem amiss" and "holy guacamole the S is HTF tomorrow!" And further, you're probably either pondering steps you can take to prepare for Life After or you're well on your way to a Post-Life-As-Usual state of readiness.
Setting aside food, TEOTWAWKI ('the end of the world as we know it') supplies, and so forth is all well and good. And if your plan is to hole up somewhere (at least relatively) remote and ride things out, this post may be superfluous for you. But if, like most people, you're going to need to ride out the bumps/crash where you are (e.g., can't or won't take kids out of current school in/near major city and move to the boondocks and start intensive gardening and homeschooling), then you won't be able to live inside your I'm Ready For SHTF bubble while those around you suffer. They need your leadership/help, and I daresay you need them.
(I'm writing this in second person, but suffice it to say I'm well aware that everything I'm scribbling here applies to me as well.)
So: COMMUNITY. Building community is probably the hardest part of preparing for TEOTWAWKI, takes much longer than any other part of the prep, and yet is likely the most important part of a long-term strategy to thrive after the breakdown of old systems and ways of being. In about 8 weeks, the wife & I have set aside food, miscellaneous supplies and one firearm (I put my thoughts about that difficult decision into the "Definitive Firearms Thread" -- post #286). And we have plenty of prep left to do, which'll take months more. But we've been community-building for over 2 years and will still be working on it long after we've gotten 95% of the other prep finished.
Nearly 4 years ago, shortly after we married, my wife & I combined our households -- I gave up my living arrangment in the lower Hudson Valley and she her apartment in Brooklyn -- and bought a house near New Paltz, NY (2 hours north of NYC). We moved in over the summer and dug on the quiet and the enjoyment of owning your own house (ignoring for now the never-ending chores/upkeep that come w/owning a house <smile>). But by that winter E (my wife) was feeling the social isolation. As a Brooklynite, she was used to being surrounded by a sea of humanity, with social contact never more than a moment away. (I myself am okay with relative isolation. I can entertain myself and am fine with just a few specifically social occasions a month. But a happy wife makes a happy[er] me, so...)
We decided to take action and manifest community. Figuring we weren't the only NYC expats new[ish] to the area, and figuring we couldn't be the only ones that could do with more social contact, we created a thing called First Friday.
On the First Friday of each month, we open our house to any-and-all comers. It's a low-key come-as-you-are affair -- no need to go home and spiff up, or bring anything. Just finish work on Friday and hie yourself over to our house. We have simple food (y'know, chips'n'dips'n'cheese'n'crackers'n'carrot sticks) and provide a little wine/beer and a non-alcoholic bevvie. Just come on over and hang out and talk, listen to music, whatever. It goes from about 7 p.m. until whenever people leave. Some months, everybody's gone by 10 p.m. Some months, it's 1:30 a.m.
It started small since we didn't know many people. I think the first gathering was 5 people including E and me. We encouraged people to bring their friends -- and then those friends were encouraged to bring their friends -- and within a few months we'd have as many a 20+ show up. Some people come once and that's it. Others become regulars and are now good friends. (The buddy who helped me pick out my shotgun in Definitive Firearms post #286 is one.)
People have a real hunger for fellowship and community. No doubt church once filled this need -- and for many people (like my parents) still does. But the churchgoing life is different now and I think its limiting to have one's affinity group[s] tethered to religious tenets. IMO.
So we started with First Friday and things organically grew from there. A bunch of the guys decided it'd be cool to have Dudes Bowling Night once a month. So we did that. The womenfolk, mildly put out that we were leaving them all home every fourth Tuesday night, decided to form a women's circle that meets on the same night. Deeper friendships and affiliations ensued. Activity groups (hiking, pottery, etc.) have spun off. Community projects arise (we had a firewood log-splitting 'party' last summer, and now one couple have taken small donations from various peeps and are building a wood-stove-powered community sauna, and so forth). A number of us followed the lead of one woman in the group and we are now volunteering with Big Brothers/Big Sisters (I'm actually awaiting placement with a "Little Brother".) We created a yahoo! message board to share info/coordinate activities. The community has 2 marriages coming this summer, and I'm DJing one reception, and E and I are the officiants at the other (first time...gulp!). You get the idea...
It's this group of people that I'm working on Getting With The Program (Crash Course). A few are where I was last Summer (during the market meltdown was when I began seriously thinking "lordy, I gotta do something before TSHTF" [although at that point I didn't know what 'SHTF' meant]) but not really mentally ready to contemplate What Might Be. One or two are right where I am, and one is waaay ahead of me. But a handful of people doing ad-hoc prep will not float a community that has about 30 "core" members and another 30 peripheral members. I want to get things to a higher level of organization/consciousness, and with all due speed. We might have 2 years before TEOTWAWKI, or maybe just 2 months (2 weeks?). Things are nutty now, but they could become absolutely apesh!t in a big hurry.
But like I said at the top, community-building is the hardest and longest of the prep tasks. At least we're on the path. As far as getting folks on board, I just this morning ordered up the special-edition CC DVDs (with the material to help me present the CC to groups of people). I'll be offering it up to peeps in our community. But I'm also getting hepped up to reserve the local community center and do a CC presentation to the community at large. See who comes outta the woodwork. Because the more prepped everyone is pre-SHTF, the more likely that an orderly way of being will endure the coming changes. So my current short/medium-term task re community is to get our peeps thinking in terms of SHTF prep (in addition to group pottery classes and bowling nights).
It kind of feels like *really* being a hub of community building could be a full-time job (and I already have about 1-1/2 of those <smile>). But if I can gather up a couple of other similarly-committed people then it gets much more manageable. And I don't want to be the Big Honcho In Charge. No: I'd rather be the grain of sand that gets the pearl to coalesce. What's that old phrase: You can accomplish great things if you don't care who gets the credit? <smile>
I'm really hungry to hear what other folks are up to in the community building department. DTM is the frickin' *man* and I'm pretty familiar w/his story, but what about the resta youse?
Thanks for listenin'...
Viva! Sager