I have therefore, in the eyes of most survivalists, already completely violated
two of the most basic tenets of survivalist philosophy
when:
a. I tell people where we are
and
b. I tell them that I don't own a gun.
We place our security in three alternative spheres:
First: In God
Secondly: In social organization
Thirdly: In service
In this current series of newsletters -
I have promised to not dwell on the first
of these spheres so let me expound somewhat briefly on the second and third.
Social organization is essential to survival.
No one is going to survive on their own.
The fact that no man is an island
will remain as true post-catastrophe as pre-catastrophe.
At Ark Two our watchwords are cooperation and accommodation.
As mentioned in the previous newsletter -
we are 20 miles from a primary military base.
We are NOT going to fight the army.
The key is to convince the army not to fight us.
Our location is well known to the army.
Let us speculate upon a scenario.
Unless the military has gone entirely renegade -
let us envision some military leader -
at whatever command level -
showing up on our doorstep.
Our response/invitation would be -
"What can we do to help you?"
"Would you like to come in and examine what we have here?"
"What we have here is an orphanage."
Although we all know about My Lai,
and the bombing of wedding parties in Afghanistan, etc. -
the military mores is not to attack defenseless children.
"We would candidly discuss with them
that we would feel confident that it was not their intention
- certainly here within their own culture -
to plunder food out of the mouths of babes -
and even more particularly that we would expect them,
hope for them,
to provide protection and where possible
access to resources and supplies.
This is the opposite of confrontation.
This same procedure would apply to any representatives
of the government or remnants of the government.
Admittedly, I refer to ourselves as Waco North.
We have in fact been raided more times than was Waco -
and by substantial forces.
Nevertheless, our response was the opposite
from those occupied Waco.
Rather than resistance we gave cooperation.
If we had made Waco's response -
the result would have been the same as theirs.
Instead, we followed the advice
of what we consider to be a very good source -
"to turn the other cheek."
It is true - that at one time our facility was welded shut -
but over time we gained the sympathy of the police.
They came to know that they would be welcomed at any time -
and every time there has been a change in the commander
of the local detachment of the Provincial Police
I have gone and invited them to visit our facility.
I have presented them with copies of my book -
and have asked that copies be sent to the Provincial Headquarters.
I have explained to the commanders -
that should something as universally catastrophic occur -
as is my paradigm -
that their officers are going to go protect their families -
rather than reporting for duty.
I tell them - that in such a circumstance -
that what they want to do is to tell their officers
to bring their families to Ark Two where they will be safe -
and then they will be our first line of defense.
I leave such things to the professionals.
These have the:
training
equipment
experience
social recognition as authority
to be able to establish and maintain:
crowd control
barricades at control points
and so forth.
In our village there are many people,
including friends and family,
who have guns and knowledge of our area
and who would be inclined to secure the village
if all else should fail.
Admittedly Ark Two is a bunker -
and designed as a bunker
by a very experienced and very battle hardened ex-military sergeant.
But - I don't own a gun.
Neither do I own a tractor.
Nor many, many of the tools, implements or expertise -
needed for recovery.
All of these latter we hope to gain through cooperation.
Which brings us to our third sphere/strategy for security
and that is service.
If we can't be of service then there is really no purpose
in our survival.
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And how do we plan to be of service?
It is:
- as an orphanage
- as a refugee center
- as a distribution center
- as a radiological center
- as a resource for
recovery/reconstruction information
-
AND ideally,
if circumstances permit,
- as the focal point
of a coordinating network.
If the events are as I imagine them -
then our expertise in the area of radiological defense
will be most useful to the communities surrounding us.
We stock large quantities of radiation detection equipment
are able to provide training in its use -
and have very large supplies of other necessities
such as potassium iodide.
Most of all -
we have thought through a response/recovery/reconstruction plan,
and have on hand immense amounts of information -
related to many aspects of recovery/recontstruction -
that most people/organizations have never thought about.
Whether or not we will actually have the opportunity
to share and implement any of this knowledge -
depends upon our first and foremost security resource -
as I stated at the outset of this discussion on security.
The second consideration in recovery -
(after security) -
is that of agriculture -
a subject that I actually discussed at some length
in the previous newsletter
but which is a subject of such immensity and intensity
that I could devote several newsletters
to that subject alone - although I won't be doing so.
For us, being in an agricultural area,
the situation is quite different from that of survivors
in some other locale,
like a major city.
In the next issue of this newsletter -
I plan to address the situation more from the perspective
of a large city or suburb.
However, for the moment -
I will just summarize that we have made preparations
in having a large seed bank -
in having beehives and
a worm farm. In having prepared the land and in having tried numbers of
different agricultural methods. In having a substantial store of compost
and fertilizer. And of course in having an excellent water supply.
But we also have weaknesses. We need experienced agronomists
practicing regularly at our site and keeping everything active and up to
date. We sorely lack in that. We also lack in the area of husbandry.
Chickens, rabbits, goats would be very practical and while I would like
very much to have the latter - if I were to have goats, for example, I
would also need a goat keeper.
There is always more to do - and more than I can do. But - there are
relatively few who come here, or for that matter go elsewhere, to help.
With all that I have told you about,
I have barely scratched the surface regarding our preparations.
I could discuss at length about our transportation
and communication plans -
but once again these are specific to our particular
location / requirements / and capabilities.
There are numerous issues that will need to be addressed at the time of the Great Catastrophe. For example the subjects of:
triage
medical care
sanitation
mass burial
mass feeding
food storage
food distribution
child care and education
accumulation/preservation of skills -
to name but just a few.
One of the great advantages of Ark Two -
is that we have exceptional resources
to address each of the above issues
and many more that I haven't listed here.
Resources are specific to each locale -
and in each locale one will need to look about
and catalog those resources
and then figure out how to make use of them.
We have over four thousand files
on our website.
Great amounts of specific information can be found there
regarding all the categories that I have listed above
along with many more besides -
such as radiological defense -
recovery of agriculture under radiological conditions -
alternative forms of energy -
reintroduction of technology -
and the list just goes on and on -
but I have already made this issue of the newsletter
as long as is reasonable.
What I have done here is tried to present the concept of how one must
tailor their plans to their particular situation. In the next
newsletter, as I mentioned above, I hope to examine some of the
responses that one might make in a city or suburb, and then in next
following newsletter after that to address the much more important
issues of social organization and reconstruction.
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