By Steven Yates
The U.S. is going to break up in the near future, possibly within our lifetimes. I don’t think it’s stoppable at this point. The only issue is: will you prepare, or leave things to chance? You cannot save what is no longer “your” country. But you might be able to save yourself and your loved ones working with small and autonomous communities of like-minded others.
Two weekends ago a firefight erupted between Proud Boys and Antifa members (see also this). The scene was Portland, Ore., which is for all practical purposes in a state of civil war. Police are unable to keep order, and in pictures and videos I see, the place is starting to look like Baghdad.
Mainstream media refuses to use the word Antifa. The above article calls them antifascists, which has a very different connotation (you’re not for fascists, are you?).
No major media reported the Antifa and BLM presence in Charlottesville back in 2017. To this day, moreover, Heather Heyer“was killed at a white nationalist rally,” even though the rally had been called off over four hours before.
To this day, “five people died during the insurrection on January 6.” Never mind that four had health problems and the fifth was shot in cold blood (see below).
When no dominant (moneyed) media can be trusted to report what is true, that is a major sign of ongoing collapse.
More to the point, when one or more groups stops seeing others as legitimate — to the point where their adherents are resorting to mass violence given the opportunity — there is no reason for thinking these groups either can or should continue to coexist under the same political roof.
This is not simply “red states” versus “blue states.” That’s too simple. The U.S., over time, has evolved into geographical regions with different outlooks.
There’s the Southeast, with its Confederate symbols (the ones that haven’t been canceled, anyway), representing a sense of heritage and place. Southerners tend to respect common horse sense and an ability to get things done with your hands. They do not have formal education on a pedestal. They tend to be religious. But they’ve no desire to impose their will on everyone. From my experience of living in the South for many years I can certify: most just want to be left the hell alone, and not be dictated to by arrogant elites hundreds of miles away!
Then there’s the Northeast, with its cosmopolitan globalism. No respect for heritage or place there!Respect by those with money for others with money. To the elitists and those who identify with them, formal degrees are very important. They wear their irreligiosity on their sleeves as they follow The Science, trust secular authority, and insist that you do so as well.
There’s Texas, where once you get outside places like Austin and Houston there are even more fiercely independent people. There are Texans talking openly about seceding from the U.S. Again the mindset: leave us alone!
There’s the North-Midwest and its distinctive agrarian mindset, conservative once you get outside metropolises like Chicago and hotbeds of wokery like Madison, Wisconsin.
There’s the Pacific Northwest, divided into the hard left coastal or near-coastal cities like Seattle and Portland. Political-economic catastrophes, all. Seven Oregon counties are trying to join Idaho to be free of Portland. Conservative inner regions of these states extend into Montana where you’ll find survivalists like these guys who are preparing for the worst.
California is likely to break up, with a few northernmost counties likely to join with Greater Idaho; then there’s the decadent “left coast,” versus the more conservative inner regions of the state.
That’s if Mexi-fornia doesn’t happen! I have no trouble envisioning Mexico claiming (or, as Mexicans will say, reclaiming) the American Southwest: Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico for sure (they’ll have a fight on their hands with West Texas). Colorado? I don’t know. Again, in Colorado you have left-leaning Denver and Boulder, while much of the rest of the state is again conservative.
Would not political separation be the sensible way to go?
A lot of it!
I’m not saying it will be easy! Quite the contrary!
Nor will it be safe, and for more than one reason!
Outside forces will try and block it every step of the way, starting obviously with the Asylum on the Potomac until they’ve exhausted their resources trying to fight on several fronts at once.
Or unless an unpredictable “black swan” event simply removes their ability to stop cascading secessions.
However that plays out, leftists and rightists (not all of whom are conservative in my sense) are likely to fight territorial wars that could last a generation or more.
Other outside forces might exploit the end of the U.S. empire. I doubt the Chinese Communist Party will just sit on its collective hands. Taiwan awaits!
Be this as it may, other things being equal, the self-dismembering of what exists north of the Rio Grande is now inevitable. Unless pre-empted by something worse, such as Vaccine Apocalypse (see also this) should horrific scenarios start to play out.
What can you do? I’ve written a few things previously (here, here, here, here, here, here). There are things I did not emphasize, or left out.
First and foremost, you need to stay healthy and be mentally alert;embrace and practice behaviors that are survival-enhancing; and create communities that will abide.
Staying healthy. First, your immune system is still God’s greatest natural gift to you. Build it up with nutritious foods: fresh vegetables — the more colors the better! — fresh fruits, nuts; Vitamins C and D-3; minerals such as calcium, zinc, and magnesium. White meat is okay, but I’d reduce my consumption of red meat as it forces your digestive system to work harder.
And by the way, lay off the sugar! It makes you less alert, and its health problems are well known. I shouldn’t need to say: avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague! Avoid carbonated beverages! Avoid processed foods full of preservatives! A lot of this stuff barely merits being called food! These fake foods cause obesity, leading to diabetes, heart problems, colon problems, etc. They make money for corporate predators without doing you the slightest good!
Shop at farmers’ markets, or in your grocery store’s produce section. You should be storing non perishables now (rice, dried beans, dried milk, bottled water, etc.). The same for supplies of basic necessities. The ideal is to have enough to sustain you and your loved ones for at least six months, and your list should include bottled water, toilet paper, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. Keep in mind: everything in your grocery story had to be trucked in. If something happens to disrupt supply lines or ordinary trucker activity, the result will be barren shelves in every store in your area in a matter of hours!
These suggestions merge seamlessly into embracing and practicing survival-enhancing behaviors.
Exercise regularly, to build not just physical strength but stamina. Breathing exercises will increase your lung capacity.
Take walks. Long distances on weekends if possible. Have a back pack with something heavy in it. Just in case you have to walk a long distance someday, having been forced to leave your humble abode with whatever you can carry.
By the way, if by some chance you smoke, QUIT! I can’t emphasize this enough!
Keep your alcohol intake to no more than two drinks per day—you might find that this, too, is something you can live without.
Do NOT use recreational, mind-altering drugs — or body drugs. I include most pharmaceuticals in this category: mood- and therefore mind-altering drugs that happen to be legal (their makers have money, after all!). However tempting they may be as an escape from an unhappy or not-so-well-off existence, resist them as they will only do harm in the long run. Countless people have ruined their lives because they couldn’t leave this stuff alone.
Get enough sleep, so your brain and body can recharge. The amount will differ for different people, but seven to eight hours sounds about right. And by the way (I’ve discovered this personally): the darker your room at night, the better you sleep! In fact, if you begin darkening your home after sundown, you help prepare mentally for the night’s sleep. Cool your room without making it uncomfortably cold. We sleep better in a cool room. Mid 60s F works for us. Reduce outside noise by any means necessary, soundproofing the room if you have to.
Turn off all screens — TV, laptop, smartphone — at least one hour before bedtime. Two hours is better yet. Instead, and this is optional: play relaxing instrumental music. No rock; nothing fast-paced or intense or attention-demanding.
All this will reduce stress, and help you cope better with the changes likely to come—by preparing you mentally for taking charge of what you can control!
Read Scripture. Read the Stoic philosopher Epictetus (from whom I’ve learned a great deal). Pray. Meditate. Make love to your mate. Different combinations of activities will work for different people. You be the judge.
Manage stress, or it will manage you, and when you’re stressed, you’re not thinking clearly and making the wise decisions you need to be making now, not after things go to pieces. Stress will hurt your immune system, moreover. It will also affect your digestion and other body systems.
Take care of your loved ones! Spend time with them! If you are alone, see if you can find like-minded others online. There will be safety in numbers!
Communities that abide (a phrase I got from Dmitry Orlov, one of my favorite writers on the Internet): there are principles that sustain communities over time in hostile environments. Again, what can you do now, starting from where you are?
Get to know your neighbors if they’ll permit it. If they won’t, it might be worth moving somewhere more conducive to your values. Build relationships with people you do business with again if they permit it: a local doctor if you have one, a dentist, people where you buy food — or anything else, for that matter — teachers and librarians, your insurance agent, the mechanic who services your car, the “geek” who can fix your computer. A veterinarian, if you have pets, and so on. Recognize their intrinsic value!
Do not forget the elderly! They have a lifetime of experience! If things melt down, they will be especially vulnerable!
Build local community systems if you can. Invest in them your time, labor, and money.You will want to have people around you who will have your back. This is reciprocal. You want to prepare to have others’ backs. The best way to do all this — may I be permitted? — is to show that you give a damn!
And by the way, speaking of things that cause stress without your even realizing it: ask if you actually need to know everything going on in Afghanistan? Or in Rome on the Potomac, for that matter! Or anywhere else you’re in no position to affect positively and do good? I can’t tell you specifics, so again, you be the judge.
Rule of thumb: if it’s harming your mindset without delivering any compensating benefits, turn it off!
Do you need to know more than that mainstream party politics (both parties!) is an ongoing disaster and unlikely to get better (unless a real conservative emerges between now and 2024 and gains traction. That seems to me like expecting magic)?
At present, I’ve no plans to endorse anyone for any upcoming elections — if they even happen, or are not rigged. Even Trump, it is now clear in retrospect, sold out with Operation Warp Speed as part of his own magical hope for political survival (billions into Big Pharma bank accounts to cook up the mRNA “vaccines”), and more recently by telling his Alabama supporters to “get vaccinated.”
These comments, going beyond the mindset of separation and self-reliance all are going to need in the future, should help answer those wondering, What can we do?
There’s much more to be said. Several of the above are an article in their own right.
Moreover, merely deciding on such matters as dietary change, or breaking digital addictions, and then trying to exercise will power won’t cut it.
For the same reason New Year’s Resolutions tend to fail.
What will cut it? Building the right systems and structure into your life. Strange though it sounds, systems and structure are what will set you free!
That, too, is an article in its own right! A major one!
God willing, I hope to write more about all these matters in the future!
Year One: Further News and Views.
(1)The latest hoax appears to be the FDA’s “approval” of the Pfizer jab. (Here; here; here.) What the FDA approved was something with a name I’d not heard before August 23: the Pfizer Comirnaty vaccine. Is this the same as what Pfizer has been distributing under emergency use authorization as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine? I have no idea! But something here smells, and as usual, only alternative media detected it. Needless to say, an effort has begun to discourage you from asking the question.
Always remember: the FDA and other federal agencies are bought and paid for by moneyed interests whose smoke and mirrors are now ubiquitous. This is what it means to live in a post-truth world!
(2) Delta Air Lines announced that they would charge unvaccinated employees an extra $200/month for corporate-supplied health insurance. The unvaxxed will also be required to submit negative PCR tests once per week. This exemplifies Stage 3 vaccine compliance/coercion. Universities such as Virginia Tech and Duke are kicking out students, employees, or both, if they remain unjabbed. Note that over 90 percent of the people on these campuses are vaccinated, an index of how well these jabs actually work.
If this continues to spread to more institutions and the so-called private sector, it may yet render Stage 4 (criminalizing lack-of-vaccination) moot.
(3) From the the-rule-of-law-is-dead-in-America department: we now know the identity of the Capitol cop who shot Ashli Babbitt. He is Lt. Michael Byrd, a 28-year veteran of Capitol Police. He came forward August 26 to NBC News with a self-righteous interview claiming he was just “doing his job,” enhancing the insurrectionist narrative of 1/6, according to which those who entered the Capitol that day were trying to “overthrow democracy.” He claims to have been identified by Trump supporters, and in hiding following numerous death threats.
Comments: first, what kind of idiot still believes the U.S. is really a democracy (as opposed to a plutocratic oligarchy)?
Second, if you want more evidence of how divided we are and doubts over whether we should remain under the same political roof, consult Ashli’s widower, Aaron Babbitt. He told Tucker Carlson, “my agitation level is actually going through the roof right now where [Byrd] admitted he didn’t really care if she was armed or not…. [W]e are going down a bad rabbit hole right now.” And, “I don’t even want to hear him talk about how he’s getting death threats and he’s scared…. I’ve been getting death threats since Jan. 7—two, three, five, 10 a day—and all I did on Jan. 6 was become a widower, so you’re going to have to suck it up, bud, and take it.”
The family attorney is preparing a $10 million wrongful death suit against Capitol Police. Unfortunately, this means appealing to the very system that exonerated Byrd of all wrongdoing. Aaron Babbitt knows this, calling it a “David and Goliath fight we have going on here.” No one in Congress responded to Ashli’s mother’s inquiries regarding her daughter’s shooting. Trump made one call.
This accords with our theme above, that one of the sides of our vastest division—between those who back Trump’s claims of having won versus those who do not—does not even see the lives of those on the other as of value. They can be shot like an animal, and a constructed narrative will rationalize the shooting. “No further action will be taken in this matter,” read a Capitol Police statement following the internal whitewa— I mean, investigation.
Oh, I almost forgot. Third: Ashli’s shooter was black. Suppose for a second that the races and ideologies were reversed. Ask yourself about the howls of woke rage that would have been heard around the world before the sun had time to set on the so-called insurrection.
Steven Yates’s new book What Should Philosophy Do? A Theory (Wipf and Stock, 2021) is available here and here.
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E-Mail Steven Yates: freeyourmindinsc@yahoo.com
