One thing about the future is certain. The delusion that complex, global systems provide safety is over. As I have long cautioned, outsourcing due diligence is a fools move. Whether we are talking about the food system, the medical system, or the financial system, the seduction of convenience has left the average person atrophied to the point of impotence. As COVID-19 (*edited language, see note below) sweeps the globe, the ill prepared, hoard toilet paper and hand sanitizer. If this nasty virus cycles through the population quickly, we can look back and laugh at how silly everyone’s response was. If it takes a year and a half, shit will get real. The consequences for the shell game of economics will be dire, regardless of what happens with the pandemic.
How many small businesses will remain after “social distancing” ends? Having owned a small business, in a small town, I can tell you that even a bad week is a threat. The thriving restaurant, that I ran for 12 years, failed after a series of events both within, and beyond my control. I was already struggling through a divorce from my wife and business partner when competing businesses began taking a bite out of the pie, in the summer of 2001. I just wasn’t sharp enough, in that moment, to adapt. Then 9/11 happened and tourism evaporated for the fourth quarter. Early 2002 was not great, then the entire state of Colorado caught fire, just as high season was beginning. All of this combined with my personal struggles, sank what had been a very strong business. What hope do independent restaurants have in the face of things like full quarantines? Small businesses, of all stripe, will be slaughtered by the lock-downs. The slide from local economies to global conglomerates providing our needs and desires, and the subsequent dilution and homogenization of culture is a likely outcome from the COVID epidemic.
If we are smart, however, people will respond to this experience by emancipating themselves from reliance on such food and resource providers. If you have been thinking about growing your own food, homesteading, developing a community of talented associates, getting out of the city, or simplifying your life, this experience may be the wake up call you need to act. If you have already taken these steps, you are enjoying a sense of security, right now. In the past, I have joked with my friends about ruling the zombie apocalypse atop a throne made of cheese wheels, ammo, and prosciutto. Now, having two years worth of food on hand is no joke. Situations like this, though easy to ignore when things seem to be working, are going to happen. Either we are prepared for them, or we must stand in line for toilet paper with all of the other potential disease vectors.
Looking forward, it is good to re-imagine the life we want. If your life is dissatisfying, and this crisis has left you feeling bewildered, trapped, or helpless, walk away from the default culture. Come join us, out in nature. Grow and cook amazing food. Learn to raise animals for food and fiber. Make beautiful and useful things with your dear friends. Wake up each morning excited for the rewarding work that the day holds. Being well provisioned for situations like this not only eliminates the anxiety currently being experienced by many, it eliminates the anxiety caused by living the way the bulk of the herd does. The messaging within the default culture says “don’t be different” and “get a real job” and “be sure to vote really, really hard”. Out here, beyond the just-in-time, paycheck-to-paycheck game, we are at peace. If the game one plays is utterly at the mercy of something like a bug passed to humanity at a “wet market” on the other side of the world, perhaps it’s time to quit playing that game!
The truth is that the conventional, expected life is dangerously uncertain. If you do what you’re “supposed” to do, you find yourself in a big boat with everyone else congratulating each other for how well they “followed the rules”. The problem is that the boat only stays afloat in the calmest of seas. The slightest storm will send it to the bottom, and you along with it. Pandemic, natural disaster, economic crisis, political upheaval, civil unrest, war, and even automation threaten your situation, if you get on that big boat. If, however, you build a life based on self-reliance and community integrity, all of those storms have little or no impact on your life. You are part of a flotilla of kayaks, able to maneuver quickly and recover from turbulence. You also require far less contact with the global market. Local micro economies disadvantage contagions.
I point these things out not to shame or gloat, but simply to answer the question “how could we do better?” The aftermath of this pandemic, and the state response to it, cannot be predicted, at this point. Yet, even before this, it was obvious that there was a better way.
Stay safe during the coming national lock down, and spend some time learning about homesteading and permaculture with your family, if you get bored!
*Edit note: Originally, I refereed to COVID-19 as “Chinese Lung Herpes”, here. Due to the fact that it came from China, effects the lungs, and has recurred in recovered patients. Well, some (two) people took offense to that term, on behalf of others. I changed the verbiage in the article because it wasn’t important enough to me to be a distraction from the larger point I’m making. I am including this note for transparency, and to point out the irony of me calling a virus “Chinese” leading to someone calling me a “racist, white supremacist” on Instagram. Amazing. I was being darkly comical, and attempting to replace a diluted scientific name with one that was more descriptive of what this thing is. I know many of you got a chuckle from it, and I had many more supporters than detractors on this subject, but who has the energy to squabble over such trivial nonsense, in times like these?
