With frets and worries about what appears to be the upcoming economic crash, my husband and I have been brainstorming about ways to survive. And of course, the best solutions come to us by accident, if you believe in such a thing as accidents. (I no longer do). So I want to share them with you.
We stumbled across some wild turkeys in the woods today and I said, jokingly "Hey, thanksgiving dinner anybody?" and my husband chimed in: "Yeah, if we're ever really hungry we can trap one". It hadn't even occurred to me.
Here we've both been a bit worried, and the solution practically lays itself at our feet! There's always a way. And it made me think: We are not alone. We have to give ourselves over in faith to the care of the powers-that-be. Call it fate, call it luck or call it God or what you will, somehow, something will take care of us. And in ways we didn't even foresee.
I have often pondered the life of the Bushmen. How peaceful an existence to huddle by the bonfire every night, stars and moon overhead, wind whispering in one's ears, watching the sun rise every day and hear the birdsongs every morning. What an impact on the state of soul! To be sure hunting would have been tough business for these people, and not all would have been idyllic, needless to say. But then again, in so many ways, idyllic may also have been the right word, at least for many aspects of their existence.
So, what would be the worst that could happen to us Americans, if we really were forced to go back to the land?
Would the Bushmen have panicked at an economic collapse? Of course not. They knew how to live off the land. And, so must we learn. Perhaps the only reason why we fear is because we depend on money instead of nature. Maybe if we end up more self-sufficient because of a new Depression (god forbid, bite my tongue eh??) then the independence from the grid, the ability to forage food for ourselves, etc won't be a bad thing in every way. Time to spread word and post to blogs: Please point out to people that we are way too dependent on The System and on Money, and that independence is key to surviving the possible upcoming Depression! When we are independent, there will be much less reason to fear. Period.
What would happen to our collective psyche as we become more attuned with the peace and beauty of nature? It would be interesting to see what would happen to the crime rate as we hear the wind in the trees and hear more birdsongs every day.
What if we all had to go fishing for dinner on a daily basis? What imprint would the meditative sound of rushing water have in our souls?
So what I am saying is, that perhaps the outcome of an economic crash may not be all bad in every way.
I want to share a few ideas about how to survive. Let's make this an open discussion thread: Please post your ideas about how to survive if the economy falls!
Here a few starters:
Buy a gun to hunt ducks, turkeys, venison et al.
Buy a fishing rod and necessary equipment to go with it (even some city areas may not be too far away from fishing lakes).
Turn your swimming pool into a fish farm in your back yard. If you have no swimming pool, buy a free-standing one and you could turn it into a fish farm.
Buy rice and beans in bulk from your local healthfood store, where you can get it very inexpensively and organically too. I just bought three one-gallon jars full, and it cost me about $25. Wowee! It's probably enough to last us for three to six months.
This quote summarizes the nature of my concerns and the content of personal experiences which stir my activism:
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement on human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves". --Paul Revere, House of Commons
The very thought ... but it's scary enough that we may indeed have to contemplate such a thing. We've been preparing for a number of months. Rice, canned foods, sauces, spices, vitamins ... we've even bought a water filtering system that can take water from just about anywhere pond, lake, puddle? and make it drinkable enough to be safe. Luckily too our sprinkler system runs on a well, and water, if needed, can even be hand pumped. My husband has already figured out how to make a funtioning stove out of old catfood cans and a little bit of fuel. It's genius. Thank god he's handy like that. I feel like I married Magyver. =o)
It's nuts.
by
Pixie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 42 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 7:34:20 AM
My input would be to simplify. Most of us are addicted to having a lot of things going on at the same time. This de-sensitizes us to almost everything. When our lifestyles slow down because we are concentrating on survival rather than the next baseball game, we need to be psychologically ready for the change or will have a much harder time adjusting.
Also, some of the things I would suggest to do before we meet the crash face to face are:
1. Cut the cable or satellite tv. Keep the Internet as long as we can because that is the only source of real info we have right now.
2. Start a garden.
3. Get some chickens.
4. Stock up on beans and rice.
5. Learn to make things yourself such as soap and butter.
6. Learn what constitutes a balanced meal, and learn to make nutritious meals from scratch with simple ingredients. For example, rice and beans comprise a good protein source when eaten together.
by
Barbara Peterson (46 articles, 80 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 416 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 12:21:29 PM
Hate to break this to you ... but this will NOT be pretty
For one we're living in a much more spoiled society, with far more people. Add in that in the 30's there were many more family farms, there are very few today. We can't just go live on grand-paws farm until things get better.
The coming chaos is going to make the Great Depression look tame.
If you want a solution, it's expensive and may be already out of reach.
Getting land in a remote area is hard to find these days with adequate resources. You'll need solar and wind power to get off the grid and clean water. Non-modified seeds are also becoming scarce. And don't forget guns and ammo - lots of ammo.
Don't mean to scare you - but I see nothing but total chaos. If you can't make it to the country with all the above, I suggest forming close neighborhood groups because you won't be able to count on authorities for protection. Most likely it will be authorities you'll need protection from.
The magnitude of what's coming is going to be hard to grasp for most people. For one electrical power will be scarce, if there at all. Which of course means no food or water. Just a few days of that in a major city and it will turn it into a war zone. I know, I live in New Orleans.
Get rid of your paper money now. Buy gold and silver. Stock-up on non-perishable foods. If you can afford a wind-generator or solar - do it now.
Fact is most people are wholly unprepared for what's coming. You may now understand why they've been building all those "detention camps". We'll be looking at mass extermination that will make us wish for Hitler's "Final Solution". There are 800 FEMA camps, Hitler had maybe 20.
We could make this all a lot better though if we stormed the White House now and started doing what's necessary to the ruling elites. But we all know that's not going to happen. Most people will put false hope in Obama, which won't do anymore good than thinking Karl Rove will save you.
Most likely we'll become insurgents in our own country. Weather we have fortitude to prevail is any one's guess. I would like to think so.
I'm sure I won't make it. I'm extremely venerable and visible. I'm an avid activist with my writings, cartoons and community projects. I'll be one of the first ones they'll target. They do have hit-squads, like they did in Nazi Germany, who come in the dead-of-night and drag people to camps or simply kill so-called dissidents out-right. So I'm not going anywhere. I'm old enough not to give a damn. Don't have a family and figure I wouldn't last that long anyway. I'm not looking forward to what's coming. I would have another 20 years or so in me in normal circumstances, but not under the harsh conditions we're about to face.
Keep your love ones close. Do what you can and I hope you make it to the other side, because if you can prevail, and these cretins don't ruin this planet with their modified genetic tampering, turning the future into a version of Dr. Monroe's Island, it may just be that "heaven on Earth".
by
Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 1153 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 12:27:05 PM
"Weather we have fortitude to prevail is any one's guess."
I think that was your subconscious made this apt typo, Mr M. It is not only not too late (yet) to relocate, it is also essential if you live in a flood prone area, and may be so if you're somewhere that's threatened by hurricanes, tornadoes or wild fires. This is because extreme weather is only going to get more extreme over the next few years. Google it if you don't believe me.
So in relocating, seek higher ground, sheltered from the worse weather challenges ahead.
by
Aurora (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 274 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 1:58:36 PM
If you (anyone) want to stay where you are, if it is "right" for you to be exactly where you are, then all well and good. If you want to move, then again, it is not too late to relocate. In a few months time it may be more difficult, for several reasons. For one, think what it could mean to have to apply to Homeland Security in order to travel interstate.
If you're thinking of crossing one of the borders in the future, or otherwise getting a passport, time to apply for the passport could be soon, as it can take several months to go through.
"I'm sure I won't make it. I'm extremely venerable and visible. I'm an avid activist with my writings, cartoons and community projects. I'll be one of the first ones they'll target. " Mr M, your asserting it so strongly is surely only weighting the odds against your own sense of freedom in sorting out your options. A person's mindset can restrict their ability to see that they even have options.
I'm guessing "venerable" was another apt typo - apt because it is the "venerable leaders" among any "homeland insurgents" who would be more vulnerable, if it all ends up that way.
Is there anywhere online that people can see some of your cartoons? In Aus we had Michael Leunig, who drew this cartoon, 'The Understandascope', more than 20 years ago, if I remember correctly. http://web.aanet.com.au/uscope/understandascope.htm
by
Aurora (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 274 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 5:45:16 PM
If there is an economic breakdown, the 30's will look like a picnic. The reason is that the people alive today are not the same kind of people. Can you imagine the cities without power? If the collapse comes every system is likely to fail. While hunting and fishing may seem like an idyllic life, and eating 'good wholesome beans and rice' sounds just so healthy and humane. Where are you going to get them when that gallon jar is empty and no trucks are bringing them to the health food store?
The government has the guns and they have more bullets than the people have numbers. In an economc collapse those nice neighbors down the street, when they get hungry enough, will kill you and eat you.
People are not the same as they were in the first collapse, and it is the character of the people who have consumed decades of violence for entertainment will have no problem committing the very worst acts. They are the ones we grew up with.
Lets just put energy into not allowing this to happen. The Bush, and preceeding administrations have set up the situation where it will happen, systematically devaluing our way of life to the point where previously stable families are on the brink of dispair.
by
DR (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 6:35:46 PM
People are not the same as they were in the first collapse, and it is the character of the people who have consumed decades of violence for entertainment will have no problem committing the very worst acts. They are the ones we grew up with.
Ain't it the truth. When I was a kid I hitch hiked everywhere. I never even saw a pervert, let alone get threatened by one. I believe that one of the things the perverts in charge are counting on is the brainwashing people have received over the years that has desensitized them to the most vulgar of acts, which they will most definitely not hesitate to use in the face of starvation. This is one reason I encourage people, just as Kathryn is doing, to become as self-sufficient as possible. Even if you get taken out, you will have at least made an effort on the positive side rather than just allow things to overwhelm you and be one of the first to feel the effects of the food and water shortages to come.
by
Barbara Peterson (46 articles, 80 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 416 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 11:05:31 PM
One of the other respondents wrote of the scarcity of electricity. I live very rural in cold country where electricity is provided by a co-op and relies on diesel in the winter. It's not hard to see the future on that in a fuel starved world.
I've always been a bit of a history buff anyway and most of my friends think I'm nuts for 'doing things the hard way'! I have plenty of modern power tools but everytime I run into an old hand tool that is still serviceable, I grab it and do what I can to repair it. I mean things like shovels, matlocks, hand drills, cross-cut saws - I even recently found a hand powered roto-tiller. Especially skills like re-loading ammo.
I don't predict that all this will be necessary - I've been fooled before about change and resilience, but it doesn't hurt a bit to be prepared. Yep, prices for food and fuel are way high but buying extra now mitigates buying them higher later or not being able to get them at all. Playing catch-up is likely to not be an option.
If/when it really happens, it will be a tailspin with little public warning. Godspeed to everyone who sees it early and does what they can to be prepared.
by
Christopher Wright (16 articles, 2 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 29 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 12:51:33 PM
and where I live, people are still dumping them at the local tip, - old long saws and broken old garden tools that can be repaired. The site managers did not seem to understand when I grabbed up a whole armful - that were there for the taking.
by
Aurora (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 274 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 1:44:33 PM
First, "thanks!" Kathryn, for bringing this in as a topic, and for doing so in such an optimistic way. It IS possible to survive on very little, - out in the land, anyway, - with some thought and care and preparation.
First thought of sustainable survival essentials is bees. They're disappearing, - not surprising with the thousands of tons of pesticide being sprayed around, with genetically modified crops, and with commercial beekeepers robbing hives of all honey and leaving them only sugar or sugary syrup for nutrition. But some small backyard beekeepers are able to maintain their hives, - where they're organic (no sprays), particularly.
Bees are essential if food is to be grown - most fruit and veggies. So having your own small hive can make all the difference. As well, there's the honey as one of those main survival foods, and wax for candles and lighting.
If there's a problem getting anything to grow outside, - go for sprouting in jars - alfalfa, sunflower sprouts, most legumes. Easily transported, take a couple of days to get going, then you have fresh greens at least.
Similarly for dried fruits - apple slices, apricot halves, - many orchard crops can be dried as Kathryn describes, in your own oven, - or even out in the sun sometimes. Just something to remember if you're suddenly off the grid and far from store bought items.
by
Aurora (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 274 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 1:32:11 PM
Just how do you figure that? We have trashed the natural resources you are counting on, and we have a population that is out of control. After a week of trying to live like a Bushman, we'll be looking for warlords and reading up on the Apaches.
by
Laudyms (0 articles, 741 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 366 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 3:10:39 PM
As someone who knows how to make soap and cheese and to milk a cow to get the milk, I say that was then and this is now.
The one thing which is beginning to be similar is a widespread feeling that survival is the goal and family is the motivation. It makes us wary of and yet demanding of government. All the observations and helpful hints are indeed necessary and I do not downplay others' observations.
Thinking back on the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression and Herbert Hoover, I can also think forward to some change in government. It takes some righteous indignation and a jolt in the pocketbook to make voters realize that they can't stand idly by. So change will come. Who will proscribe it and how it will help each of us can be influenced by what we write and say. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" was FDR's way of saying that action, although possibly not adequate, is better. He was referring to the one-fourth ill-fed, ill-housed, ill-fed.
For many decades I have been interested in the duelling approach of Cooperation vs. Competition. And for at least that long, cooperation would come out on top if I could call the shots. Buying goods in bulk and selling it at cost plus a little for administration is what members of a cooperative do. It is not something chambers of commerce will abide.
Are there some of you who would like to research and advocate for the cooperative movement? Get in touch with me if you need to know how room and board at college was half as much in the 40s with the Cooperative Dormitory Association. I can tell you how it helped me, my sister and lots of my friends. I do not have time to research and stay current with my other tasks at OEN. Thanks.
by
Margaret Bassett (19 articles, 1255 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 733 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 3:29:07 PM
One problem, in SC where I live, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) tells us that almost all of SC's fishable waters are mercury contaminated.
by
B York (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 86 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 3:41:53 PM
Unfortunately, our cities are bloated with people have have rarely seen the land, much less know how to survive from it, IF they can obtain the funds to escape their compartmentalized existence. All the ideas of how to get through another total depression are good....for those with money to buy gold and silver, for those with access to soil to plant gardens, (should the weather cooperate), and for those who can afford to buy the needed land on which to bank their sustenance.
The ugly truth is that there will be many who cannot do any of these things. The old and the infirm will be the first to go, after suddenly "losing their appetites" to allow more food for the children, and those children will, in most cases, be on the streets begging and trying to sell anything they can get their little hands on for milk money. Homes will be absent parents as the fathers must leave and roam the countryside, able to find enough work only to sustain themselves as the mothers are left to fend for themselves and their children.
The American populace will again become nomadic with children leaving the family group and going off to try to make their own way. The family as we know it will cease to exist and those that are able to endure will suffer much greater hardship than any have known since 1940. This is the word of one who was born in the middle of the Great Depression to a dry land farmer in Kansas and has no desire whatever to attempt to survive another. You may prepare for a "bad year" or two but there will seem to be no end and every plan you have made will not be enough to see you through. Those who have nothing will assault and steal from those who have little and there will be no "law and order" to establish control.
The only answer to the coming "depression" is to avoid it, and the only way to avoid it is to make the necessary changes to our government and to DO IT NOW!
by
Mary Pitt (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 162 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 4:47:59 PM
Even in the best case scenario, if we were to storm the White House, dissolve Federal Reserve Bank and get on our knees and beg the world's forgiveness for our arrogance and aggression, we'd still be in bad shape, but not half as bad as what will happen if we don't.
And unfortunately, with history as my judge, I'm prone to believe the latter.
It's nice in here with people that are aware, but step out-side and you're thrown into a world of people who are not only ignorant, but in denial. Mention half of what we're talking about and I would bet a majority of people would say your "tin-foil hat" is on too tight. Those that might even agree with you, will then get into their SUV and go back to doing all the things that got us here to begin with.
Those that have been planning this event have been doing it for a good 60-odd years or more. They have enormous power, control most of the message and aren't about to just give-up just when they're on the verge of completing their demonic plans.
For us to effect immediate change with the least amount of damage is a daunting task. I don't see how it can take place. I certainly hope I'm wrong. I know we out-number them, but numbers don't mean much if a majority of those numbers are stuck on stupid.
And the rest of the world isn't going to treat us very kindly after what we've been doing to them over the past few generations and aren't going to care much about helping all the Paris Hilton wannabes and beer-swilling, pot-bellied Bubba's that make-up a majority of our populace.
But if we were to have softened the blow, now might just be too late, we should have stormed them after it was obvious they stole the 04' election or at the latest right after the Democrats stuck knives in us for not doing what we demanded of them after 06'. But that didn't happen. Most went back into their shells and waited for the next false hope Messiah to save them.
We know there is no such thing. If anyone was going to save us - it would be us, and a majority of "us" still have our faces glued to the TV, which is exactly what the Powers-that-be would want. ("The revolution will not be televised." Thank you Gil-Scott Heron)
The fact that these cretins were allowed to continue their carnage with absolutely no threat of punishment means we didn't move forward, but instead greased the skids for our own demise.
Personally, I'll fight as long as I can, join any effort to right the wrongs, but I'm too old and have any desire to "live off the land" by force, and when it gets to the point that it gets real ugly, well if I haven't been taken out by then, I hope the Spirits-that-be don't hold it against me if I take the easy way out.
It's insane, thinking like this. When one thinks of all the beauty, millions of years of evolution, and for what? To get to a point that we're talking about a very real possibility that soon this big beautiful planet could be tuned into a burning, toxic soup of genetically deformed mutants because of what we've done to it in such a short span of time?
I look upon a blade of grass now and see God's beauty and fear that even it won't survive. Don't even ask how I feel when looking at a small child and project what hardships are in store for it. Even in a best case, I know they'll never have a chance to experience half of what we've been able to.
It rips my hear out to say these things. I want to take those that did this and rip their hearts out (if I could find one in them). What monsters does these things? What demented minds and black souls spend their whole lives crushing the beauty out of every living thing without remorse.
It sickens me to think I'm a part of a species that can do such things. And at times I want to say to hell with it and even help the destruction, to rid the world of such a species, and join in the orgy of destruction till the clock runs out. But that would be an empty thing to do. I don't honestly feel I could swing that hammer, I know it wouldn't be me but something else working through me, and what would be the real me would be screaming inside to stop. It, more than suffering anything hard times could give, would a faith worse than death.
I can't do that because I know myself, and whatever it is that's inside me, with all this sadness and weight of knowledge of what's to come, I know my plans were laid long ago for me.
I've had my choices and could of prepared myself better for what I've known for several decades was coming, but for whatever reason, my own denial, despair, hoping against hope, that it wouldn't happen, I didn't take responsible steps to get to that place where I'd be relatively safe from the storm. My Guardian Angels have keep me alive to this point, and believe me when I say they have, for there have been several incidents where the only explanation for my survival is divine intervention, but I don't know if even they can get me past this coming Apocalypse. I would certainly hope so, but as I've said, I have done little to prepare and will most likely be in the mist of it when things fall.
But my sadness for all that will be wasted, all the millions of years wasted, all the beauty destroyed, the question, that eternal question of "why?", what was it all for? Did we crawl of of the sea and evolve only to be destroyed by our own folly? Is this it? All the accomplishments, art, music, thought and genius wasted only to satisfy a few power-mad elitists? There has to be more. Why have even we suffered with a conscience? Why not just live like other animals, unaware of our mortality?
I know I'm asking age-old questions that only our creator can answer, but they certainly seem pertinent in this time, when we seem so close to our end. If indeed we are.
The kicker is that I know we have the knowledge to make it right. We have the ability now to feed every person on this planet and give them a descent standard of living. We have technology that could give us clean free energy. We have all this and yet ... it's so sad.
Someone tell me I'm wrong. Tell me it won't be this bad. Tell me that we can overcome. Tell me that these cretins can be defeated before they ignite their bombs and unleash their toxicity to a point of no return. I'll believe you, even if I know better.
I just don't want to believe all of it was for this, to get to a point where we have to fight soulless cretins for a chance to survive. It's almost like all the sci-fi stories we've ever read or seen, Lord of the Rings comes to life. But who is going to wind-up with the Ring? Or will it be destroyed before it can fulfill it's destiny?
by
Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 1153 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 7:31:57 PM
and think You will survive on wild turkey. The turkey is one slick bird. He can see and hear and smell about ten times better than a human. I managed to sneak up on a turkey that had already roosted for the evening and before I could draw a bead on that bugger he, much to my surprise flew off like mad over the horizon. Once I saw a large group of about 100 or more about a mile away through my telescopic sights. Moving to get into shooting position spooked them at that great distance. Even if You bag a turkey the meat is not always edible. In areas with wild chile pequin the turkeys eat it and the meat is so spicy you cant eat it. Feral hogs,cottontails,squirells and birds are much easier to hunt.
On the vegetarian side apart from gardening common vegetables and two acres of field corn I got seeds to plant pokeweed and lambs quarter, both are perrenials and very hardy plants. Poke salat is edible taken from spring leaf shoots only and must be boiled twice. The mature leaves are toxic as are the purple seeds. The seeds do make poke wine. similar to sloe gin. Dont forget the ever present dandelion which also is an excellent boiled green similar to mustard or turnip greens. A good rear tine roto-tiller is a must for small gardening. Dont get a front tine machine, it will rattle your teeth out and do a poor job (its like wrestling a wild bull to handle one). Be careful to plant by the almanac dates in your area. If growing corn stow the organic gardening reterick, if you dont spray the corn the silkworms will leave you nothing but a bunch of sawdust-like worm poop where the kernels would have been. Water is key. Dont depend on rain, you must be able to soak the ground at least once a week between rains, so plant accordingly. Only one species of corn may be planted in the same field. If you desire another type plant the other a month later to prevent cross-pollination. Corn pollinates by wind and if two types are growing the pollen will blow over to the other and you wont have either type but a new hybrid.
Planting is an act of faith. If the fungus or bugs dont get the seed and it sprouts then the crows and rabbits get their shot at it. If it rains and you get ears they must survive the silkworms, birds,coons,smut (fungus) and other blights that are competing with you for food. If you should happen to get corn ears fully grown and filled out they then must be dryed on the stalk,pulled,shucked and the kernels seperated from the cob and stored, and if the weevils dont get it first you can grind it up to make your bread. Poke salat fried up with a little pork fat and some good old cornbread is a meal fit for a king. Good luck, I know I am going to need it, and a lot of faith.
by
john riggs (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 367 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 6:42:28 PM
Anyway ... for what it's worth, Kathyrn wanted me to post some of the ideas I had.
Here's a link to the Berkey water filtration system. Slightly pricey, but they have different models. I think we got ours on ebay, plus an extra filter. Just look around and Google search to find the best deal.
Also, here at two links for making cat stoves (cat food can stoves). My husband made one in like 20 minutes and the first time he used it he got a really decent flame. It went for like 13-15 minutes only 2 oz. of alcohol. Alcohol is what they run on.
This thread is sobering. I am just hoping it doesn't get like that. Like as bad as some are making it. So many thought Y2K was going to do it too and I paid no attention to that. This time I am. This world is a scary scary place and I have a two year old and a four year old. If I'd known six years ago what I know now, I'd NEVER have brought kids into this world, but what's done is done.
A Fly in the Ointment and I don't mean a fishing fly rod.
In the Southern halves of the states of New Mexico and Arizona, there was not enough game upon which the Apaches could survive from the end of the American Civil War. There's even less game today. My web-page shows how to survive in the wilderness by allowing you to travel 40 miles a day so that you can stop by all of the nearby settlements that have food to be bartered. Good luck.
When fuel is out of reach, horses can provide good tranportation and they're fun to ride. But who has the land or money to keep horses? I've never heard of a cooperative horse farm, but why not? There could be horse-drawn taxis, even ambulances. Horses, donkeys, and mules could help with bartering--food for firewood, blankets for raincoats, etc.. Good-enough horses can be bought for a song at the auctions, if you know what you're doing. Maybe a cooperative land trust would be doable. All of this would take time and organizing, of course, but I think it's a great mistake to reject useful ideas because it's "too late." Better to have tried and f
