Even in doomer / prepper / collapse-aware circles, we still all too often find ourselves falling into thinking in terms of “… when collapse happens” — instead of recognizing that it is already happening. (How does the saying go? — The future is here; it’s just unevenly distributed.)
For about 20 years I’ve been noticing this pattern. I call it the “trying to keep one foot on the pier while the other foot is stepping onto the boat.”
Granted, it can be scary to contemplate disengaging from the extractive/exploitative/hoarding economy, with all the “goodies” it provides. Financially daunting, and also daunting in terms of interpersonal consequences.
But be assured, there is lots of support out there. I’ve noticed that more of us are on this path than we might think. Our safety lies with sharing and cooperating.
Sharon’s article (link below) encourages us to fully recognize that collapse is something that is happening right now, as we speak, and not at some hypothetical point in the future when a certain critical mass of boxes are ticked.
For me one of the most challenging aspects of navigating collapse is recognizing that the very highly funded authoritarian entities and social norms will, collapse notwithstanding, very likely continue to extend their tentacles into every area of our lives for the foreseeable future.
Collapse is not some anarchist paradise where we suddenly get left in peace to build our own infrastructure, parallel systems etc. Nope, we’ve just got to set about doing that under the current conditions, wherever we are at, right now.
Don’t expect any reduction in resources dedicated to criminalization: punishment of the homeless population; spraying of herbicides on wild plants; shutdown of your unofficial neighborhood survival enterprises such as the guy repairing bicycles out of his basement; persistence of harsh and excessive street-lighting.
So, for example, while we are turning our yards into food forest and native plant paradise, we’re still going to have to deal with code enforcement. Instead of trying to escape to “somewhere easier,” or backing down, now is the time to step it up: roll up our sleeves, practice courage, exercise creativity. Actually the time was yesterday or last year or 20 years ago, but the next-best time is now.
Further Exploration:
• “Paying Rent in the Apocalypse,” by Sharon Astyk. https://ko-fi.com/post/Paying-Rent-In-The-Apocalypse-O5O81MEJ17