Blueprint for Rebuilding- Part 2, by GRC

Security

With the basic necessities provided for by a thriving local economy, specialists can be employed to organize our third bullet point, security. In our pre-Reset cooperative outline we can lay the groundwork for our security strategy. Few families can hire a professional trainer full time. Gym membership for physical fitness or even a group membership at a local gun range are important first steps. The self-defense cooperative’s purpose would be to take this further and secure the services of a qualified professional skilled in physical fitness for all ages and abilities, self-defense techniques, and team building^[23]. With the understanding that your young cooperative will probably not be able to hire someone full time, assign a committee to find a contracted security specialist with the critical skills; it should be someone who will attend cooperative meetings and begin training as part of an ongoing program. Make clear your ideas for forming a close knit team and community, even if you choose not to share your fears about the future.

When the Reset does come, your defense expert will have need of a group with your skillset in resource management. At that time you may come to an agreement for full-time service in exchange for resources. The bulk of defense for the fortified community will always lie with the citizen militia. Each man, woman, and teenager must be trained in small group tactics and proper weapons handling. This includes firearms, blades, and hand-to-hand defense. Many experts believe the latter to be most important to the situations we will face in a new dark age. A community must have experts to design the training regimen, enforce physical sparring, and make defensive strategy suggestions to community leaders. Post-Reset, these trainers will need to be mostly full time.

Finally, in matters of security, joining a neighborhood or rural watch program is a place to build relationships^[24]. If there is not one in your area, start one. As a cooperative, offer membership to everyone. Do not assume a neighbor is not interested based on any preconceived notions you may hold. Do not worry about influencing those who do not share your views. A watch cooperative would be a welcome source of comfort to all members of the community, not just the prepared. Even before a catastrophic event, there will almost certainly be an uptick in violent crime^[25]. A break in by an armed criminal can be just as much an end of the world situation for an individual as an asteroid impact.

These three points– fuel, food, and security– provide a starting place to craft a cooperative around. None of these three are threatening to anyone in your local town or city. In fact, all are quite civically minded and probably will put you into contact with people otherwise afraid to be associated with prepared groups. You need not discuss your vision of the future to find those helpful in achieving your cooperative’s goal of self-reliance. You can merely find common ground on simple matters of living well. Post-Reset, your planning will become clear to those wise enough to understand the danger. Remember, we’re planning for long-term rebuilding, not just short-term survival.

A Path Awaits

Where will we rebuild these communities after the Reset? Perhaps it will be in the places where they once stood, but there are some disadvantages to these locations. Remember our premise is what ought to be. Philosophy will have to take a pause immediately following a collapse, and the prepared need to survive the aftermath in order to build a better tomorrow. The wide open streets and individual buildings of our small town ancestors may not allow us to weather the storms of chaos after a downfall. But where we choose to set roots early in the conflict will give us a leg up in our long-term goals.

For those in rural areas, look to the concrete fortresses premade for you. Don’t have any of those close by? Look again. The grain elevators our model twentieth century cooperatives built still dot the countryside of the Americas. They’re in Australia, also. Some are wooden and wouldn’t fit your needs, but others feature concrete walls several feet thick^[10]. Many are five or ten stories high; some are taller than that. Of course, each is dirty and dusty inside, with years of use or neglect and would require a thorough cleaning. It’s a small price to pay for the ability to withdraw to the safety of a reinforced cocoon at night. Once the Reset is clearly upon you, gather your prepared community and build the best earthen berms you can to surround the facility. Utilize the ground close to garden and tend animals, with lookouts on top of the prairie skyscrapers to warn workers of approaching danger. Determine the maximum number you can shelter there, then add to that number for the refugees who may flock to your community. Chances are that most of these places will be abandoned by the time worldwide disaster strikes. Be ready to assume, or barter for, ownership in that instance. In many areas of the country, there is a grain elevator every eight miles along rail road tracks^[11] and more along navigable rivers and roads. Be sure to keep a map of any suitable sites, both for secondary shelters and to know where others might be sheltered.

For those in more urban settings, or rural areas without large grain production, search out a century old school building or church. Individual homes will not be safe, so create a hardened target to shelter your cooperative behind real brick and concrete. Study the concept of heimat– a German term not well translated into English ^[13]. The best definition is the place where you belong. It’s not exactly family and not exactly your town but more of a community. Another term to study– kirchenburgen– is borrowed from the European experience during conflicts, such as the Thirty Years War and Muslim invasions^[12]. When pillaging armies rampaged across the countryside, churches were fortified to provide safe haven for otherwise vulnerable peasants; these were a kirchenburgen. In times of crisis you will need a safe place to retreat to in the face of armed parties. A large, determined force could breach the kirchenburgen, but it provides an expensive prize best bypassed. The idea of letting those with bad intentions pass you by in order to attack someone else feels cold hearted, but this will be a time of hard choices. Having a kirchenburgen at the center of your heimat provides your group a chance to carry on with daily chores, taking comfort that they and their loved ones have a safe home to return to. As a reminder, be sure to plan a secure place to house your biofuel refinery.

Religion

Religion may play a part in causing a future catastrophe. It is plausible a man-made disaster could be created by a group claiming to act in their own religion’s interest. Conversely, more Westerners disregard religion from their lives each year^[26]. Your friends and neighbors may very well feel the same. Perhaps, you do too. The beauty of a free system is that each person worships as they choose, or chooses not to. However, even those without faith agreed to certain religious-based principles at the founding of America and most Western civilizations. In our example of early twentieth century America, we see a wide array of denominations living peacefully beside humanists. They believed religious freedom was worth fighting for, so too may it be for us. Even without agreement on the afterlife, most agreed to basic principles with regards to right and wrong in this life (i.e. don’t murder, steal, et cetera).

In this matter, you may choose to be proactive. Many clergy are aware of the dangers facing our society but would hesitate in partnering with prepared groups. Instead, simply get to know those in your community. Do not be afraid to make note of beliefs that are common to most religions. When the Reset occurs, be prepared to remind faith leaders of common pillars to rally their people to the common good. This is not a call to modify your own belief system or ask your church to modify traditions and doctrine. It’s quite the opposite. Stay true to your beliefs, but become a blessing to everyone in your community. By the time the Reset occurs, there will probably be fewer clergy present^[29]. Steadfast people become a rally point for the despondent. Remember that many will turn to faith in times of crisis. Churches, or organizations such as your well-organized cooperative, that succeed in times of crisis are often those prepared to help. Like it or not, religion has been a major source of both conflict and comfort in rebuilding times. It will be again.

Summary

To most who study history, societal collapse is a foregone conclusion. This is not necessarily a condemnation of our current culture but merely a statement of fact that no empire lasts forever. Every country faces a Great Reset at some point, whether sudden or gradual. Trouble can take many forms, with our current civilization’s most glaring weaknesses being electronic, economic, and environmental. To build a strong future requires a long-term plan for thriving not just surviving.

There are many in your community who share common interests but may not share your vision of a difficult road ahead. Forming a cooperative around gardening, biofuel, or security is a successful strategy for rebuilding local economies while subtly preparing your community for a post-Reset world. This will allow your cooperative to be in the system but not of the system. Your cooperative can also act as an archive of information for others trying to rebuild but lacking knowledge and resources to do so. Helping others is best accomplished by creating a safe and secure community from which to reach out. This can be accomplished by identifying structurally sound facilities to shelter in immediately after a catastrophe. Some examples that will provide a head start in rebuilding include grain elevators, schools, and church buildings. Remember to include tradesmen, such as mechanics, in your cooperative to help create biofuel-powered vehicles and generators. Not only would biodiesel tractors and bulldozers be useful for farming, but tracked and wheeled vehicles can also be modified to help in self-defense.

Stretch your imagination and free your mind from distraction. Remember that very few ever imagined planes would be used as weapons of war on 9/11. What unique local resources do you have to supply and defend your community in a post-Reset world? Most important to remember as you create a blueprint to rebuild, ask yourself “What ought to be?”