Wednesday, July 15, 2015

asshattery 2


AMIDST A SEA OF ASSHATTERY 2

In the United States, living in the city is no more advantageous than living in the suburbs, economically speaking.  The old city centers are either in old Rust Belt cities which have jacked up their taxes in order to survive, or in newer cities such as Phoenix or Los Angeles which were never meant to be a city and have inflated infrastructure cost leading to higher taxes.  The suburbs are cheaper tax wise but once commuting is factored in provide little advantage.  Remote areas, the boonies, usually don’t have either high cost-there is no jobs within driving distance ( I’ve been told of people living in some remote parts down South commuting with gas costs at near $1k a month due to distances between employment.  With this arrangement, making $30k a year is below poverty level, take home pay wise ) and while very few people pay taxes, there isn’t much cost in governing them.  After costs of shelter and commuting and taxes, urban dwellers are usually are as poor as rural folks earning only casual income but with a paid for home.  The trick is to get casual employment.  There lies the rub.  Without that, there is no rural survival economically.  It is my theory that the Survival Blog Rawles Rangers in the Redoubt are mostly those few folks with telecommuter skills that are actually trading up by leaving behind taxes and commuting costs.  Even paying extra for Idaho land, they come out ahead.  They leave zero luxury behind, with less bills.  Well, how else to pay for all the semi-auto’s, right?

*

That leaves the rest of us.  The best we can hope for is small town employment ( okay, correction- small CITY employment.  No small towns have any of that any more ).   No matter how you slice this pie, without employment there are no preppers, just poor folks one hospital visit away from starving.  So, survivalists must trade no work in a safer zone for city living and a job.  We can’t escape nearby populations.  I just moved back six miles into town, and while I feel less safe, that is just emotional hysteria, not rational logic.  There will be enough warning to get out, and six miles is nothing on foot if all other transportation options crap out.  Also, six miles is nothing if the town crowds branch out.  Even if the entire town is vaporized by an asteroid that magically avoids wiping me out, I have enough neighbors to pose a danger anyway ( about five times as many as when I moved there-and let that be a lesson to you ).  I was less safe there than before, so moving back doesn’t really magnify my risks all that much.  It just feels like it.  Rationally, there is only zero danger if you have zero neighbors with zero nearby villages, and that is none of us.  We should be maximizing safety, not trying to totally eliminate danger, because that isn’t possible.  Preaching country retreats without recognizing the danger is silly.  More next article.

END
 
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon ad graphics at the top of the page. You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase.  For those that can’t get the ads because they are blocked by your software, just PayPal me occasionally or buy me something from my Amazon Wish List once a year. *The Old Bison Blog on CD: Over five years of work and nearly two million words of pure brilliance: available as a free e-book, but not cleaned up or organized, at Lulu
*Contact Information*  Links To OthersTop 20 Survivalist Fiction*  Land In Elko*  Lord Bison* my bio & biblio
*My books: http://bisonprepper.blogspot.com/2015/04/my-book-links.html
* By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there
 

 

13 comments:

  1. People are your greatest asset and your greatest threat. How to balance those two is really an unknown when times get tough. That is the problem with being a social primate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We had the solution- tribes. The nation state screwed that up. This collapse will be like no other. No social structure to fall back on, the entire globe depleted of resources.

      Delete
  2. "Rationally, there is only zero danger if you have zero neighbors with zero nearby villages, and that is none of us."

    I was discussing this with my brother just yesterday James, and that's pretty much what it comes down to. The only way to escape the eventual Mad Max society that we all face someday (or at the very least, our decendants) would be to literally move far enough out in the middle of no where, to where there would not be another living soul aside from wildlife. You would want to be miles away from pavement like the Rancho Costa Nada dude. In the mean time you would have to fly supplies in, in order to stockpile. This requires a lot of money, and I could pulled it off at one time, but failed to do so. So now just like everyone else, it's just a matter of the most effective compromise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you have a credit rating, buy an ATV with cargo capacity. Use for a few months while making payments, to stockpile. Return.

      Delete
  3. I guess the sportsman's guide sells firearms now James? I recall the old Mausers from before, but those were pre-1898, and exempt.

    This looks like a cute little .22 survival rifle, and not a bad price either.

    http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/chiappa-little-badger-single-shot-22lr-rimfire-500092-805367071029-165-barrel?a=1819170

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just saw a 223 AK pistol for under $500. Cool toy!

      Delete
  4. Basically, I believe it comes down to living wherever you wish to die. No one will likely survive what's combining !
    Like you though Sir Jim...
    I wish only to live long enough to see what happens.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And live just long enough to take a few of the bastards out with me. You're my inspiration for that!

      Delete
  5. You need to bring back your old tagline --Last one in the Stew Pot Wins!

    Idaho Homesteader

    ReplyDelete
  6. So in general terms, what prompted the move? Family? Health? Tactical? $?

    Do you still have the place you were at? One issue that would have a lot of people wanting to go back into town is age. Rural living, without family help, doesn't seem that likely for most who start pushing into their elderly 60s. A lot of people retire to a place that is suitable for their early retirement years, but a disaster as they get older and need some help. Of course if you have no one to help you, and that unfortunately is not uncommon, than I guess it might not matter much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Still have the rural acre, still ready for us at a moments notice. The move was because of the new relationship. 58 years old ( I'm 50 ), she isn't really ready to rough it until needed. 15 minutes away by car, 45 by bike, 100 by foot. Bug-out isn't an issue.

      Delete
  7. It isn't just your zip code, in our area, any property located within 15 miles of our towns is dotted with homes of people who commute there to work. Pretty damn dense population - I grew up here and don't recognize the place at all!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only a very few areas are stable or losing, population wise. It is insane that we have nearly doubled in a mere fifty years. And that number assumes they aren't grossly lying about the number of permanent illegals.

      Delete

COMMENTS HAVE BEEN CLOSED