A Message For All Humanity

This is an amazing video montage, with the a moving and heartfelt speech by Charlie Chaplin in his movie The Little Dictator. Certain truths remain true no matter what the age might be, and this is no exception. Its very moving, and it calls on every one of us to step up and claim our natural birthright- many of us think we are already doing that, but we are sleepwalking to our graves, mollified by evil corporations that don't need to demand your loyalty- they have tricked it out of you, and require nothing else but your first born child- and your second, and all of them. If you are bought in to this system, its natural that your children will belong to them, too. Watch this video, and give it some thought. If it doesn't move and inspire you, please check and see if you have a pulse. Then watch it again. Its a message for you.

 

 

Can You Survive in a Post Apocalyptic World?

Lately when I am driving, or lying in bed before I fall asleep, I have been thinking about the End Times. Yep, the oft referred to end of days, when humans finally cannibalize themselves to the point of complete destruction.

Don't be skeered. I am not fanatic about it. What I wonder is how I would fare in a survival setting, and how useful would I be to others. This is not really surprising to me, as I recently went through a spate of post apocalyptic movies- 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Legend, Children of Men, World War Z, and of course, Walking Dead. Most of these focus on zombies- but as I have said in other blog posts- the zombie apocalypse is already upon us. What happens when the zombies destroy the fabric of society in their mindless consuming? (To wit, a great quote from Judith Froemming-A true zombie is nothing more than an unconscious being apathetically and lifelessly lumbering across the planet buying and consuming everything in its path, unsatisfied, unfulfilled, anxious and unstill.”)

Zombie Attack Survival Kit- a must have

The zombies have me very nervous. They are everywhere on parade, all over the internet and facebook. They really have no thought at all about anything except what to consume next, or what entertainment is available next. But all of this could culminate in a bad scene for all of us, and I wonder about that. First- I wonder if there are enough people who are conscious and aware to stop the madness. I wonder if we are doing enough, or if there is enough we can do. I will continue to do the best I can, and just maybe I will start preparing.


So I got a survival book. And it got me thinking about all kinds of stuff I didn't need to start thinking about. Why? Well, it shakes me up, for one. Like the section of the book about survival dentistry. When I think about survival, I always picture myself smashing zombies in the face, or building a fire, or getting supplies from a heavily looted grocery store, armed to the teeth. That one chapter put the reality of it in perspective. Its not a movie. If it happened, there are skills we don't have the first idea about. Dentistry? Setting bones? Surviving in a desert with no readily available clean water sources? Not nearly as fun as zombie killing.

But this new movement I have been privy to, with people learning to garden and create beehives, and even those who have acquired chickens (seriously, there is an urban chicken movement- and it makes sense- fresh eggs? Why not?) in urban environs will fare better than those who have not been learning to get back to simpler ways. If society were to quickly revert to having no power and no water, then these simple skills are going to come in very handy. So, in a very real way, one can both prepare for, and help prevent, an apocalypse. If more of us did these things, and we got more people to grow food, buy local, keep beehives,  drive less, recycle, look into sustainable ways of living- if we were able to tip the scales, we could help prevent a possible catastrophic future. And if it came anyway- we would be in a good position to survive it.

Urban homesteading is on the rise

So sure, there are things like having stores of canned food and water, that's never a bad idea- and first aid kits, and survivalist books, and all of that. I recommend preparedness on any level, for any thing.  But when it comes down to it, people have been living off the earth naturally for millennia. Its the most radical thing you can do right now, in this day and age- to look at all that you consume- from food and entertainment, to ideas and thoughts- all of it could be re-evaluated and re-prioritized. I say start with food, and let the rest come. Food is by far one of the hardest to change, but once you make that commitment to eating foods with no GMOs, shopping local so the foods are not shipped to you grocery store by plane and trucks- thereby wasting precious fossil fuels, giving your body nutrient dense superfoods so you stay healthy (and not just for the sake of health, per say, but because a healthy body is a BIG fuck you to the system- they make a ton of money of our being sick, tired, stressed), avoiding processed food, growing what you can, perhaps having a beehive to help our dying bees and so you can have fresh honey, definitely avoiding all fast food restaurants, and being a good example to others by talking about it and walking the walk you are talking about- if you just start here, with one of those things, it will grow all on its own. The rest will fall into place, in its own time and its own way. It will not feel like a sacrifice, but a gift. You will feel like a light bulb that has never been turned on before now, and finally you have found your purpose.

 I would like to not have to run through abandoned streets with a bad ass cross bow on my back, scavenging for what I can not grow on my own, or practice survival dentistry on my loved ones and learn to filter my pee to water a garden, but if we don't start somewhere, do something, and now, this may be the case.  The time is now. Don't hit the snooze button. OCCUPY YOURSELF!

Thought for Food

Yeah, thought for food. Just like food for thought, but in reverse. This whole lifestyle change is starting to become automatic for me. Yay!! Today I spent the day snacking, which usually leaves me feeling weird and kind of disconnected from body, over stimulated, and just plain ol' weird. However- (and this is a big deal)- I didn't know it. I had no idea until I did things differently. Its okay to snack- but its what you snack on that makes all the difference. Lets call this the Snack Revolution! 'Cause every little tiny bit helps the cause. And every little thing we do that is not a solution only adds to the problem.

Yeah this. In reverse.

So.... giving some thought to my food is teaching me to take responsibility for my world, on way many more levels that simply what I eat. On a day after eating crap,  feeling out of touch with reality and cranky, can leave me making a snap decision from a bad place and alter the course of my life. Seriously- no one should be making big decisions after a day of eating oreos and drinking cokes. or grabbing fast food for lunch after a coffee breakfast.

Like Ebenezer Scrooge said to the first ghost, Jacob Marley, who visited him in A Christmas Carol- he said to the ghost, " You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, ... " Even Dickens knew that food has its affects on the mind. Food affects everything central to our own well being, be it mental, emotional, physical. We are so disconnected from our own selves that it really doesn't bother us, to read something like this. We can read it and somehow feel like it simply doesn't apply to us. I did it a million times.

I know. I totally know. I never cared- when it came to my health- well, I always felt healthy. I have always been able to eat what I want and just be fine, I never saw any repercussions.  But I do feel different now, when previously I thought that I couldn't possibly feel better than I did already. Bah, Humbug.  Like Scrooge, who doesn't want to look at his past, his present, his future, the way he impacted those in his life, or the way his impact on them impacted those in their life with a profound rippling effect. No one wants to- you, reading this right now, don't want to. Or you may look at one thing but avoid looking at the *big* thing. I do that all the time!!!! I have quit drinking and doing any mind altering substances, got out of a bad marriage, I have sought to improve my life in many, many ways- but food was really going to be my last stand- I was determined not to change a thing. Food is just so....personal.

So...today. I haven't had a proper meal, I snacked all day. But I snacked on Mary's Gone Crackers, which are crackers full of chia seeds and flax seeds and quinoa- sooooo yummy. No GMOs, no gluten, all organic- the exact thing that I would have rolled my eyes at 2 months ago. I dip them in some amazing stuff called Nary Dairy- which is this sort of fake cheese dip with the texture of hummus, made out of cashew butter. I get it at my local farmer's market. Its delish. And I ate a banana, and some organic milk chocolate from trader Joe's.

Nary Dairy is sooo yummy! I like Chia Cheddar best.

Why the hell am I talking to you about what I snacked on today? Because it was the kind of day we all have, where there is no time to actually eat, and that is when we throw all our thoughts for food out the window and grab what we can. The bad guys at McHappylife, Inc., love it when we are like this. That is when we stop at a fast food place- in a hurry, blood sugar dropping, stressed out. Its when we are weak. Fuck that noise.

I prepared myself. I left the house today with my little snacky snacks. I am not giving a dime to those skeezy corporate sh*theads, and its my goal never to do so again. No more fast food or the easy bag of chips full of GMOs, just to 'tide me over'. Its seems like such a tiny thing to do- but if we all did it, we could put those fast food guys out of business. We could- I know its almost an impossibility, but think about it. If we could unite the people of the US, if we could get them all to stop eating all fast food, we could shut them down. If we didn't buy any products containing GMOs, Monsanto's stock would continue to drop. We have the power to make change. its not like we need to strap a bomb to our chest and walk in a McDonalds. In a capitalist society, the power is actually in the hands of the consumers.  If we don't like something, if we see the red flags, we need to talk to our friends, or families, or neighbors, at parties- and talk about what is going on, plant the seed for a different approach. We can stop them by not buying their crap. If their crap is not bought, then they will die.

The American Dream realized.

I know there will never be a way to get everyone on the same page. But if we tried to, we'd at least get a lot of them thinking different. We all have facebook. We all have email. If nothing else- share this blog! Let it speak to as many people as possible. 

Okay, so then what. How do we change? Read about GMOs. Get the Buycott app so you don't purchase things with GMOs in them. Talk about it. read this blog. Change some small thing in your life this week, and then maybe next week, see what new thing of value and sustainability you can add to your life while removing something that supports the decline of civilization.  I am taking baby steps in the right direction, and if I can do it, you can, too! Trust me, I am one of the worst case scenarios and die hard white trash food eater. We can do this thing. OCCUPY YOURSELF!!!