The Hippie Survivalist - Saturday Blog

*A mass shooting yesterday that left over 20 KINDERGARTENERS dead.  Endless drive-by shootings in Oakland.  Our society grows sicker day-by-day.

*My own week was difficult also, for lesser reasons - work stress, reduced income, a cold house with no heater, conflicting feelings that on one hand life is not fair, and on the other hand life owes us nothing at all and I am lucky to have anything more than a shirt on my back and enough food to survive.  And also, in some strange way I am glad to feel so down-and-out...it reminds me of the bottom line, it reminds me that I am a hard worker, it reminds me that I am a survivor.

I feel as if I am a spiritual person who is living a materialistic life in a society that corrupts the soul incessantly and invisibly.  I remind myself that it is more important to care and to give than to indulge and to take.  I remind myself that when I die I will die naked, penniless and alone - all I will bring with me into the energy world is the sum total of all I've been.  And the sum total of who I've been is the result of the choices I have made, the intentions I have chosen, and the efforts I have put forth.

*A thought or two on pornography: There is a lot of buzz on the internet that a recent study showed that porn stars have higher self-esteem and are happier than civilians.  Yeah, right.  I don't believe it for a second.  That kind of sensationalist BS is exactly what our sick society would have us believe, so that greedy people can make more money on our blind indulgences.  Most porn is grotesque, demeaning and blatantly indecent and immoral.  It doesn't take a theologian to figure that out, all it takes is a moment of inner reflection.

I am not down on all porn, but there are many degrees of indulgence and debasement that occur within the realm of pornography, and it appears to me that the bottom line is pretty fucking low.  On the one hand pornography can enhance sexual freedom, excitement and pleasure, and on the other hand it can result in vulgarity, abuse and dangerous levels of debasement.  Sometimes I wonder what demons porn stars are cavorting with, or if some of them are demons themselves, born to spread the evil of total self-indulgence in the modern world.

I get sick of reading lies that portend to be truths.

*Scored this old-school kit crossbow at the Flea for ten bucks this morning.  Been looking for one for years!  It's got a wooden frame, a machined aluminum bow and a functioning aluminum action/trigger.  All I need to do is string it.  And I'll probably sand it and oil it with boiled Linseed oil.

*2.5 weeks ago I stopped eating gluten and refined sugar.  The first thing I noticed is that I was no longer hungry all the time.  Then I lost about 5 pounds, quite quickly.  I'm assuming those pounds were water, the result of incomplete metabolism of sugar.  I'm hoping to lose more weight, but it hasn't happened yet.

*Ticket sales to Wasteland Weekend IV got off to a rip-roaring start on December 6th at noon.  They limited total sales to 1,500 tickets, to keep the event small and awesome.  Apparently there are still tickets left in the $85 bracket...but if you want to go, BUY YOUR TICKETS SOON!  Next year's 4-day event will take place 9.26.2013 - 9.29.2013.  All I can say is, 4 days of awesomeness for less than $60 (in my case)...WOW.  Just, WOW.  It was a lot of fun last year and my WW buds and I are really looking forward to even more fun next year.

*So I finally did it - bought about 15 wooden cigar boxes of all manner of sizes and shapes, tore off their tiny hinges and catches if they had any, and added gate-sized zinc hinges, hasps and handles, turning them into "Crafty Mini-Boxes".  They are a bit crude, but cute as hell and usable for storing ammo, stash, lunch, snacks, matches, smokes, etc.  I want to mount one on the front fender rack of my bike, like a mini-trunk.  I'm giving them out as Christmas presents this year.

*The massacre at the kindergarten yesterday has brought up the issue of Gun Control, and given the heinousness of the crime it is difficult for me not to give the issue some thought.  I find that I can play Devil's Advocate for both sides.  The issue is convoluted and complex, and a great deal of it has to do with mental health, which is hard to quantify.  At the far end of the pro-gun spectrum is James Rawles, saying that teachers should carry guns, as they do in Israel and South Africa.  I don't know what to say to that...although my first thought is that Rawles is simply addicted to guns.  They seem to solve every problem in his world.  If we make concealed carry permits super easy to obtain, and everyone winds up armed, will this lead to a civil society or to a society that blows itself apart in an unending series of ever-larger gunfights?  We are a self-destructive, sick society, one that is waning and has seen better days.  And guns don't address any of that, nor do they solve, ameliorate or heal any of the underlying causes of crime - they merely have the capacity to physically stop crime from occurring.  The Wild West was a very different time and place than modern America.  Maybe morality and respect are alive and well in the American Redoubt...but I don't think they are in Los Angeles, with its teeming millions. 

Every time I contemplate the ills of our modern Western society, and the plight of the world as a whole, I am left believing that the trick to survival is to find and start lifeboat communities of like-minded individuals who are spiritual but realistic, talented and committed, and to make these communities as self-sufficient and resilient as possible.  Should they be armed?  Fuck yes.  My Inner Hippie is not stoned.