Perhaps it was the camping and outdoor adventures of my youth that led to a desire to be self-sufficient and ultimately to my own “survivalist” attitude, but it’s been more a change in society that has formed the current “survivalist” movement than any of our own individual experiences. Modern society has reached it’s pinnacle, and we are now in a very awkward period when society as we know it will spit and sputter and flare up before it burns out entirely, at least society as we know it. The time of great achievement has passed and society is now working to “reclaim” many great works. As an example the Hoover Dam would never be built today because American society no longer has the will to take on great projects. People are choosing sides; the earth worshipers versus the Christians, the Socialists versus the Constitutionalists, and the Muslims against everyone. There is no clear path for American society, but one thing is for sure: our future is not bright. There are too many factions tearing at the fabric that was a great American society, no longer are we united in any common cause. Are we fighting for liberty and freedom or are we fighting to be an imperialist power? Are we spreading democracy and justice around the world or are we responsible for spreading abortion rights and homosexual “marriage”? Are we outsourcing to spread healthy economic development worldwide or are we simply exploiting slave labor? One thing for sure: we are choosing sides. The recent events following Hurricane Katrina demonstrate the tenuous thread by which the fabric of our society hangs, many amongst us are looking for any excuse to revolt. Society no longer has any common purpose.
I know that I have chosen sides and I am comfortable with my choices. I have friends and family that are aware of what is going on around them and understand the issues. amongst friends here, that I know. You are reading this because you are uncomfortable with many of these issues. You know that rampant consumerism and the “disposable” society cannot go on forever. You are reading this because it is too late to do anything about this at the ballot box.
Something somewhere inside you has been telling you that the answer is not in a Spotted Owl or an X-Box, but somewhere else. Where do we go from here? I’m not sure! I do know we are going to be the ones that can form a new society, we are the ones that want a return to Constitutional government. I have no idea what any of the other factions of our society wants, but I know it is not that. You know that I don’t support slavery, nor do I think that blacks are 2/3rds. of person, nor do I want to legalize cocaine, but I can’t tell many people that because they have already chosen sides and refuse to listen. Many have chosen sides by simply stating they will not chose sides, to not be involved. You and I are simply an ignored part of the population that cannot be bought with government handouts, farm subsidies, or promises for a zero pollution automobile. We aren’t lobbying to remove all references to God from society or for homosexual adoption of children. We aren’t begging for a new five hundred million dollar bridge to service fifty people and we aren’t asking for a new courthouse with English Walnut paneling. I don’t know what to do other than my duty as a citizen; write letters, call my representatives, be informed and responsible for myself. I don’t think society as we know it now can be fixed, but we are obligated to try. Our current government has largely been formed to service the bureaucracy and pander to fringe special interests, rather than provide a very limited framework in which all of society can operate. Change at this point is meaningless. Reform? Out of the question.
Are you armed with knowledge? Are you prepared for disaster? You are ahead of 90% of the population if you are reading this. You care or you wouldn’t vote, you wouldn’t write legislators, and you would not participate. Participation here helps those that will stand with you in difficult times. Whatever the future holds we will be there, we will have a common purpose and we will share high ideals. We will share the burden and overcome the hardships together. We will not blindly follow the mainstream into the abyss, but rather prepare to build a society that is once again tempered with truth and justice. – A. Friend
Letter Re: America at the Crossroads
