Survival__ Structuring Prosperity for Yourself and the Nation - Charles George Smith [190]
B. Eat a healthy diet (a diverse variety of real food cooked at home, and some home-grown)
C. Be active (there is no substitute for being fit; all that's needed is six square feet of open space)
D. Realize the mind, body, emotions and spirit are one (emotional health and physical health are one; know your own limits, strengths and challenges; be a friend to yourself and others; express yourself honestly; seek a humble understanding of Spirit, etc.)
E. Be grateful rather than resentfully entitled (the baseline is always zero; no food, no electricity, no clean water, no income, no power, no friends, no family, no social order, no Internet, no citizenship, no entertainment, no health, no shelter, and so on)
All of the above become much easier once you turn off the TV, radio, videogame and computer.
10. Become an engaged citizen. If you do nothing else, vote out the incumbents. If they were doing such a great job, why is everything corrupted and falling apart?
Beyond the few minutes it takes to vote every two years, choose one issue to engage: local schools, bikeways, the local flea market/farmers market, neighborhood watch, poorly maintained public parks, community recycling, etc. An engaged citizenry is the only feedback which can counter the pervasive influence of the monied Elites, which includes public unions, government fiefdoms and the usual well-funded special interests.
If "fighting city hall" is not your cup of tea, then join a transparent non-privileged parallel network or organization that has self-organized to fulfill some purpose or interest which you share.
One example would be a neighborhood group which cleans up and cares for the local park. As cities lose tax revenues and get squeezed by unsustainable pension obligations, they will not have enough money to pay $100,000 in wages and benefits to have a city employee adequately care for the park. Those neighbors who want a clean, safe park for their kids, parents, families and friends will have to self-organize to get the job done.
The cash-strapped city will probably be willing to work with the group or at least not hinder its progress. Once again, I stress that such networks exist independent of State/corporate structures and thus they operate as parallel informal power structures.
Avoid confrontation and unlawful activity--The State seeks "enemies" it can violently repress.
11. Focus on the FEW resources in your household and community and build your own household's capital. That includes cash, tools, the FEW resources, knowledge/skills and networks.
12. Opt out of consumerist passivity and construct a self-reliant alternative which is independent of the devolving State and financial Plutocracy. The Plutocracy rules via persuasion through the mass media/marketing complex which establishes a politics of experience that then dictates how we experience events. This manufactured "experience" directs our thought processes, decisions and serfdom.
The rentier-financial Power Elite controls the State and thus the State's monopoly on coercion and violence. Opting out is legal and non-confrontational: turn off the media and "starve the Beasts" by reducing consumption, debt and income. Own/control your own means of production.
13. Encourage local enterprise. This ranges from putting your voice behind cutting red-tape restrictions on new enterprises in your city/region to buying real wood furniture from a local supplier/craftsperson rather than purchasing a foreign-made particle-board facsimile of furniture which will soon break apart and be hauled to the landfill. Only a sliver of your money spent on facsimile furniture stays in your own community while all the money spent on a real wood item constructed nearby stays in your community.
Furthermore, the real wood item will last decades rather than a few months.
14. Be open to the opportunities of hybrid work. One of my "jobs" is to pick up