> TEOTWAWKI Blog: Resilient communities

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3/23/10

Resilient communities

We survival/peppers recognize something that many do not--that the world we live in is fragile, fundamentally flawed/broken and in decline. So we plan, train and stock away supplies to survive the coming collapse. But, overall, our part in this is passive--we're waiting and preparing for the coming hard times.

What if instead of waiting for the collapse of the global system, we created a system that had none of the weaknesses and inequalities of the current system and could provide (and ensure) a better quality of life for its members?

What if instead of relying on truck farming and eating food grown hundreds of miles, we lived in a community that produced all of its food locally?

What if instead of depending on intricate, fragile and worldwide manufacturing supply chains, our local community was capable of manufacturing everything that we needed?

What if instead of relying on electricity generated hundreds of miles away, our community generated all of its own power?

These are just a few of the ideas behind what military strategist John Robb, author of Global Guerrillas, has termed "resilient communities." Read his synopsis here.

Basically, a resilient community is one that has the capability to provide the services that we conventionally rely upon the "global grid" grid for--food, energy, security, transportation, communication, etc. As a result, the community has a much greater ability to withstand collapse/disruptions to that global grid--it can survive without it just fine. And also, because its members have real assets and capabilities (energy generation, food growth, local manufacturing, etc.) they can also preserve their wealth better than those who have imaginary assets and capabilities.

Instead of sitting passively on the sidelines or hiding in a mountain retreat, waiting for the broken system to fall apart, you build a system that works. Ironically, this new system is pretty much just a modernized version of how people have been living for thousands of years. Self sufficiently.

More later.