it's really time to get out of the cities. spending the weekend out at the BOL really cemented that thought in my head. I have little faith that we can reverse this police state/propaganda state, so the only option we have left is to simply leave the cultural/social hubs behind and let the sheep deal with the urban police state. I've had enough of it. I'm tired of hearing about it. I'm tired of reading articles about it.
this weekend I turned my phone off and didn't so much as glance at a TV or computer. it was quite possibly the nicest, most therapeutic thing I've done all year. so all I'm saying is that the cities are lost. they're entirely too far gone and can't be brought back. the only chance we have for a peaceful life is to simply get the fuck out while we still can.
You're arriving at the point I hit about a year and a half ago. I woke up at o-dark thirty one morning after being home for a few days from an overseas job working for uncle sugar at a pretty nice pay grade and just having received a promotion to the sound of flashbangs and breaching rounds. After the initial rush I figured out it wasn't my home but across the street the cops were raiding a house gangbangers and drugs. This was in a more affluent neighborhood that was only a few years old. After that I noticed every siren, every noise, every stressor the city has to offer. I had just finished reading Atlas Shrugged right before I redeployed and I sat down looked at HH6 and said (I remember the words verbatim to this day) "Fuck this - we gotta get outta here". Now HH6 was born and raised a city girl and had never lived anywhere that had a population of less than 250k. But I pretty much laid it out that I was going to find a way to move our asses to a less stressful and more secure life. It took a few months of planning and liquidating assets but I managed to latch onto a ranch near where I grew up. And although she was hesitant after being away from the insanity of the city HH6 is much happier.
My wife has always been the frugal sort. And being a military family with kids we didn't have an abundance of cash so whatever was left after spending on necessities always went into savings. Reup bonuses, tax returns, combat pay, you name it. Even after I retired and was working those high paying contracting jobs she still managed the hell out of our money. During all of those years we never had cell phones, more than basic cable, or a lot of toys. And after I retired all of a sudden we bought into all of those gimmicks. Every job I worked handed me a crackberry with a 24/7 email requirement. Cell phones rang at even weirder hours than when I was a troop. Suddenly there was 500 channels of not a damn thing on TV worth watching. And all of that insanity did nothing to improve the quality of our lives. So we chucked it. We still have basic satellite TV (she loves her telenovellas), she's got an elcheapo prepaid phone for emergencies, and we live with almost no stress.
What I'm trying to get at is with a some creative thought and good basic planning you can get the hell away from the cities. I cashed my 401k out and bought a larger chunk of the family business after I paid the ranch off. In 18 months I've made about 75% of my money back between the two. My friends that still slave away at the organization I left have steadily lost on theirs. If things hold true to form I'll be in the black again within three to four months.
I saw this a couple of weeks ago at PJ media:
http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/comment/183369/"The winning stock market strategy right now? Think it is gold? Silver? Derivatives? Foreign markets?
Here it is: 5 to 10 acres in a defensible place with an off the grid water source. Greenhouse. Fractional precious metals in .223, .40, .45, .22LR, etc. Some stock like chickens, a pig or two, beef on the hoof. Hunting skills. Stashed starches in enough quantity to live for at least two years. Heirloom seeds. Get back to basics kids. The days of needing lots of business majors and marketeers is gone."
When the Depression hit those that were predominantly self sufficient out in the country may have hurt for work but they didn't starve. And amigo it's all about survival of your family. Build Tribe and ensure it's security. During the depression rampant crime and starvation was common in the cities and people were MUCH more humane during that time period in our civilization. Not so much out in the sticks.
