So, with this virus going around the world, and millions of people in quarantine COVID-19 more commonly called the coronavirus has changed our world in the span of a few months. With everyone talking about infection and death numbers, who is at fault, and the economic affects there is something that almost no one is mentioning. Our industrialized society as it stands now in the western world cannot and will not survive this.
The economic effects of this virus will kill a lot more people in the industrialized world than COVID-19. We live in an economic system where if people stop spending money even briefly the whole thing falls apart. With people in quarantine and businesses closed millions of people do not have money to spend which in turn causes more businesses to lose money and eventually close. Also 1/3 of American renters could not afford rent for April 2020. This has the potential to upset our society for years to come.
With all the people who are desperate and struggling only a few months into this, no one has any answers or help for the people. That is why we the people must come up with our own solutions because the government, wealthy people, or the free market will not get us through this in the long run.
Not to scare anyone, actually to empower people, the systems that we all depend on in the western world are breaking down. This COVID-19 is just another step in the decline. Intentional communities, ecovillages, communes, and transition towns will be viable options for human settlement in the future. This is not about going backward but going into the future in a way of our choosing and not to have a future forced onto us by others out of fear.
We need community now more than ever. We need to become producers not just consumers. We need to shorten the lines of production. Instead of going to the grocery store and buying food that is produced thousands of miles away we need localized options like backyard or community gardens. We need to look out for our neighbors and other in our vicinity because if they don’t have the basics then they will come and take what you have and no amount of guns or ammo will protect you in the long run. We need to learn how to do those skills that were common a century ago.
Since the end of WWII here in the west we have embraced a culture of materialism, hyper consumption, and hedonism. There is a myth in the United States about the rugged hardworking individual, the self-made man. Someone who earned their keep by the sweat of their own brow or who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. The idea of the individual will not work in the coming years and decades and we need to move toward a society of cooperation, and localized economies.
We need communities and not chase the myth of “self-reliance”. Most people in the western world are not self sufficient even if they grow their own food, hunt fish and trap, or live out in the country they ARE NOT self-sufficient. We have a strong central government that gives subsidies to farmers and ranchers, we have a stable currency for now, and most people are still supported by our government and big corporations to some degree. Those will be the forces that will enslave us in the future if we’re not careful.
If you were in a developing country in the global south, you would need a group of people to sustain yourself, the lone wolf self-sufficient prepper just doesn’t cut it. Historically people have banded together in groups to get through crises, those who go it alone don’t make it.
This is not about a left-wing vs. right-wing position, this is about saving people’s lives. The financial elites control both political parties, the media and information outlets, the religious institutions, the educational systems, law enforcement and the military, and the means of production. When times get very bad in the United States, they will not come to save you or I and will protect the institutions and anyone on the outside will be left to fend for themselves. We want to build community before it gets to that point.
In closing I want to state that we must have bottom up solutions to our upcoming problems that will come about from this COVID-19 in the coming years. We will have to (myself included), work with people that we may not like or agree with politically. We must look inside of ourselves and work on ourselves mentally and emotionally. The transition away from this culture of hyper individualism and consumption to a culture of cooperation and sustainability will be a battle of consciousness.
Until next time,