ANTEBELLUM
help is not coming, slowing down, power outage preparedness, useful skills, small acts of rebellion, art's place in collapse, simple living, the "crisis of meaning" narrative, and predictions
In light of recent… everything, it seems foolish to consider America’s current political, economic, and social landscape to be “healthy” or to consider people well-adjusted. We are smoldering as a society on nearly every level, and our country’s leadership seems to think the only fix is punishment for all dissenters, rather than putting money and resources into anything that actually helps its citizens - healthcare, social services and safety nets, housing and infrastructure - you know, things that would make people not feel the need to dissent. Rather, they spend as much as possible on military, police, and corporate bailouts.
It really is sad to say, but we’re on our own. Now, I don’t mean this as some bootstrap-pulling form of taking personal responsibility or placing any blame on you, but I cannot sit here idly and tell you that there is someone or something coming to help us, or that we can rely on the government or private sector to fix these problems; they have proven time and time again that they will pocket trillions of our dollars, and put trillions of dollars into police and military before they’ll allow even a whiff of free healthcare to waft from the windowsill - regardless of which political party is in office.
So what is there to do? Protest or riot? Quit our jobs, shack up and ignore eviction notices? Form cults or off-grid communes? Walk hand in hand into the void together?
For some, I suppose these would be good options. But it seems like at this point all we have are the small forms of rebellion and community organization - the guerrilla gardening, the dumpster diving, the banana scanning, foraging, mutual aid, auntie networks, quiet quitting, antinatalism, anticonsumption, the anarchist forums, van life, vagabonds, nomadic living. Hell, at this point even doomsday prepping could be considered an act of rebellion. It seems that almost everyone I know has taken some of these actions (or in some case, inactions) into their own hands and decided that they will do whatever small-scale things they can to avoid participation, or find better ways to participate outside of the system. I think this is good. I mean, what else is there to do? It’s more plausible than forming a general strike or nationwide revolution based off of a consistent ideological pathway, it’s at least something that is right in front of us and something that we can consistently do in our everyday lives.
Anarchism as a political ideology is fraught with flaws and I would never advocate for anarchist systems being implemented on a wide scale. However, anarchist actions within a larger capitalist system are beautiful, necessary, and abundant.
It feels as though we are past reaching across the aisle, peaceful protest, compassionate appeals to the common good in all of us; it is impossible to shake hands and agree to disagree when those that disagree with you likely want you dead. And make no mistake; if you are gay or trans, black, Jewish or Muslim, they want you dead. Even if you are simply a working class straight white person, they want to keep you poor and reliant on wage labor until you die. This is why it is important to find every small way you can to maneuver within the system, without being reliant on it; try to glean as much money and resources you can from it without being dependent on it. Find ways to buck the system as much as you can.
With that in mind, you should not feel the need to hustle. The opposite is better, in fact; slow down and enjoy your life as much as you can. Turn off the news and spend time with your family. Go for frequent walks and hikes, play some basketball, eat your favorite foods, get as much sun as you can, listen to music instead of podcasts and news. Paint, draw, or collage something, or take up a sculpting task, read fiction. Decorate your home beautifully and get some house plants. Take good care of your surroundings; keep your house or apartment clean and tidy, fix up some things that are breaking or looking dull. Take up an interesting hobby or find a new niche interest to delve into. Knit a blanket or fix up the holes in your socks. Make a big, delicious meal for your partner, even if it costs a bit extra - it’s worth it. Talk to your grandparents (not about politics).
Navigating Antebellum America
Is civil war near? Perhaps. Are we experiencing a forward lurch towards fascism? Likely. Are we going to see an increase in political violence and stochastic terrorism? We already are.
The recent wave of electrical substation attacks should be alarming, as even the Department of Homeland Security has warned of a heightened threat environment surrounding critical infrastructure. I won’t speculate and say that it’s all the right-wing’s doing, but I would wager a guess that it’s not the Socialist Rifle Association who is organizing to shoot up substations.
While I am no expert in threat analysis and cannot say for certain that civil war is approaching, I do think that it is important for civilians and leftists of all kinds to hunker down and prepare in their own ways. For some, it might be purchasing and training with firearms (although I don’t recommend this to everybody, especially those with mental health issues), for others it might be taking first aid and Stop the Bleed classes, and for some it might be growing gardens and working to secure resources for their communities. These are all essential aspects of navigating antebellum times, and for some it might need to be a combination of all three.
While I am not exactly a doomsday prepper nor an advocate for prepping, I do think that it’s just good sense to keep at least a month’s supply of non-perishable food and medical supplies - my mother coined the term “Oh Shit Food” as the colloquial stash of emergency supplies, and I always keep one myself. On top of this, try to find other ways of securing resources for yourself, your family, and your community. Obviously dumpster diving and small-scale vegetable gardening are good options, but mutual aid, food banks, and food preservation skills can also be very necessary in times such as these.
I would also recommend preparing your household for power outages. It seems that the electrical grid is a critical vulnerability (see the North Carolina substation shootout that left 40,000 people without power), and therefore an obvious target for those who are looking to insight violence, tear down societal safeguards, and begin a civil war. Here are the basic necessities to have on hand in preparation for a power outage:
At least enough water for 1-3 days
At least enough non-perishable food for 1-3 days
Extra medications, first aid kit, medical supplies
Flashlight, extra batteries, lantern, etc.
Glowsticks
Candles, lighters, matches
Cash in small bills, I recommend at least $100-$300
A book or two, some card games
Extras:
Propane or camp stove, extra propane canisters
Crank radio
Solar or backup generator
For more info on power outage preparedness, click here.
Congruently, the violent rhetoric against trans people has gone far into the realm of genocidal. Whether good ol’ boy republicans want to admit it or not, their party and its pundits are pushing for violence and social ostracization or worse against trans people, and by extension, violence against queer people of all kinds. I highly recommend that gender non-conforming people leave red states or red counties and find safer places to live, maybe even consider arming yourself. If the trans community and its allies built up a reputation of being armed like republicans did, we would not be such an easy target. Consider joining your local branch of the Socialist Rifle Association, there are good people there.
That being said, anti-establishment groups should not advertise themselves or flaunt their status as armed groups, this will only give fuel to those who are looking to take away your freedoms and give them the opportunity to label you as terrorists, or something of the like. The revolution should be normie, truly. It should be as many regular people as possible opening up to the ideas of a more socialist society, so that anything outside of that seems antiquated and harmful. I am all for owning guns and arming marginalized communities, but just remember how easy it is for armed groups to be labeled as terrorists or targeted for retaliation. For the time being, it might be better to organize in secret, and secure as many resources as you can for your community.
Useful skills to learn in peace-time:
Remember that there are countless resources to learn new skills, all it takes is a quick search on Google or YouTube to get you started. There is nowhere to go but up from there. There are links to various starter resources for many of these skills, so be sure to click the underlined words.
Basic first aid: how to properly clean a wound, how to apply a tourniquet, how to support a sprain, how to treat a burn, how to help someone having a seizure or heart attack. Almost every county of every state has a free monthly basic first aid class, you need only to sign up and show up. (I am not linking any YouTube videos because it is best to get professional advice for matters of first aid, instead try googling first aid classes in your area)
Basic vehicle maintenance: how to change a tire, change your oil, change your headlights
How to bow hunt and fish
How to grow food plants
How to cook/preserve food
How to exercise/stretch properly
How to build things with your hands/use basic tools
How to build a fire or make a Dakota Fire Hole
For more resources, check out
Small-Scale Acts of Rebellion
It really can be quite simple. You know how in the movie They Live by John Carpenter, there’s all those signs that say “reproduce, consume, obey”? Just do the fucking opposite of what those signs say.
Seriously, just try your best to not do these things. Don’t conform yourself or your standards to any system, don’t obey needlessly controlling laws and find discreet ways to get away with breaking them, watch as little TV and media as you can and find better media than mainstream sources, consume as little as you can (except for what you produce yourself), try your best to think critically of narratives that are told to us, do not marry or reproduce, don’t listen to political or religious leaders, work as little as possible (except for yourself and your communities), and just stay woke, not asleep. And I don’t mean “woke” in the co-opted corporate sense or anti-SJW buzzword, I mean it in the way that it was originally used by black communities in the 1920s to stay alert to the oppressive systems set in place; a sentiment that the right-wing ruling class is desperately trying to stifle and destroy. They always say “woke culture is a disease that must be eliminated” which is just another way of saying “nobody should ever be allowed to question us, and everyone must conform to our straight, white neoliberalism or be eliminated”.
Small Acts of Rebellion include but are not limited to:
Grow your own food as much as possible - even if it’s just indoor container growth in an apartment, guerrilla gardening in small slivers of forgotten land, or even just one plant that you have room for. Every little bit counts, and potatoes are a good, easy place to start.
Forage for as much food as possible - find common berries, roots, chutes, and greens that grow in your region. Do hefty research to learn how to identify edible plants, and don’t consume anything you’re not 100% sure you can identify.
Can, dehydrate, preserve as much food as you can for difficult times - learn how to make jams, jellies, pickles, jerky, dehydrated soup packs, just be sure to follow proper preservation procedures to avoid foodborne illnesses. Do your research first.
If you do happen to have a yard, consider ways to turn it into a sustainable homestead in whatever capacity you have - you might even be able to keep a few backyard chickens and produce endless eggs for your community.
Dumpster dive for food - the amount of edible food that is thrown away and wasted in this world is staggering, and it is possible to salvage much of it. Check out r/dumpsterdiving for suggestions, good practices, and proof of outcome.
Avoid giving money to large corporations as much as possible - shop locally and thrift, buy produce from farmer’s markets or directly from farmers, buy other goods from Hispanic, Asian and Middle Eastern markets.
If you have to use big box and chain grocery stores - banana or oat scan as much as possible. Do it discreetly and in small doses, check for security cameras, and remember that often times stores will allow you to continue stealing until you have reached the monetary amount that constitutes a felony before they decide to prosecute, so don’t do it at the same store all the time. Switch between many, many different stores if you’re going to do this.
Thrift all your clothing and furniture or use free online marketplaces like Craigslist or buy nothing/sell nothing groups. Don’t buy any fast fashion or mass-produced goods.
Update your self-sufficiency skills - learn basic first aid, basic vehicle maintenance, learn how to build things with your hands and be handy, learn how to shoot and maintain a firearm, learn how to fish and hunt, learn self defense, learn how to build a fire.
Stock up on essential goods and tools so that you’re not reliant on a same-day system of resource procurement - non-perishable foods, water, water filters and purification tablets, fuel and propane, lights, matches, candles, batteries, anything else you may need. There are tons of prepper lists out there to work off of, and there’s always a chance that you’re forgetting something. Remember not to become a crazed doomsday prepper or hoarder, just get the essentials and move on to bigger fish.
If you have money to invest, put it into localized permaculture, small businesses, or even gold and silver before you think of investing in the stock market or crypto (not financial advice, just fuck the stock market and crypto)
Minimalize your life and find ways to live simply - sell or give away unnecessary possessions, consume as little as possible, don’t impulsively buy things, reuse as much as possible before throwing it away.
Do not have kids, don’t get married - these are traps that are designed to inbreed wage slavery. Love should not be under the law, religion, or only meaningful through procreation. Let love be love, and don’t feel the need to conform to any idealized versions of love or nuclear-family propaganda.
Cook hot food for your unhoused neighbors - give them some money and goods whenever you can. The system does not care for them, and everything you do for them will come back to you in one way or another.
Utilize food banks, but be sure to donate to them as well as take from them when you can.
Build small resource sharing hubs on neighborhood street corners. They can be made of wood, plastic drawers and bins, even old microwaves. Just paint a little message on it so it’s clear that it’s a place for people to give/take various resources.
Find every possible way to make money and survive without working a regular job - jobs and employers steal your humanity, soul, and labor in return for padding their pockets, there are better options but you may have to seek them out. That’s okay though, working for yourself and your community is far better than working for a corporate overlord. If you do need a job, find a small business or local store to work for. If you do need a job, see what options are available for joining a labor union.
Instead of looking to purchase a home or rent a nice, modern apartment - consider smaller apartments, shared housing, and be willing to forgo luxury in favor of simplicity and practicality.
Consider nomadic living/vehicle living/”van life” - it will absolutely give you a leg up in a dangerous and unstable world. Having all your belongings in one portable location can be a huge advantage, although there are downfalls as well. Do your research and consider your options before diving into this.
Rebellion Hot Take:
I think that within a capitalist system, it is entirely okay, possibly even the best thing to do, to try to make as much money as possible. This might be a hot take but hear me out.
It is damn near impossible to affect any sort of political change when you are dead broke or barely making enough to survive. It is damn near impossible to make the lives of the people around you better when you can barely feed yourself well. It is damn near impossible to build up a rallying base when you have to fight every day just to feed yourself and keep a roof over your head. I know that it’s easier said than done to just say “make more money, dumbass idiot with ur broke ass you’ll never help anyone”, and I’m not trying to purvey hustle culture as the answer, but what I am saying is that if you are in a position to glean more money out of the system, you absolutely should do it. If you are in a position to build a business with people around you, maybe offer some good jobs to people in your community, maybe stack up some capital that can be used as a basis for community food security, you absolutely should do it. If you’re not in this position, or don’t have the wherewithal to start a business or side hustle, that is completely okay too. Don’t do something that isn’t within your means. But in that same breath, there are always better options, better jobs, better situations that provide you more free time to invest in actions that can put yourself in at least a somewhat better situation.
Just remember that if you are in a position to make more money than the average working class person, you are not a higher class or more important than them. You are simply another tool to fight oppression, and having extra money, good politics and being a genuinely kind and empathetic person is a surefire combination to effect good change, so long as you aren’t hoarding that money or greedily looking to get richer.
To find joy & meaning will likely take a forgoing of certain material amenities & embracing a simpler form of living - there seems to be a shared sentiment of bungled life and missed opportunities amongst humans, and it feels as though we’re finally able to pass the blame and recognize injustice for what it is (good).
For years, we’ve been tethered to the ideals of meritocracy and personal responsibility, crushed under the weight of the entire middle class, brushed under the rug by a plutocratic ruling class that would rather us work to death than experience joy & meaning on our own terms. Egged on further by those of us who believe ourselves to be a future part of this ruling class, or beneficiaries of them, providing free status quo policing for our masters.
It feels almost like inhumanity; like whoever put these systems together, then threw us to the wolves within it, was dead set on enslaving us. It is a perfectly designed system to snare and trap us, while it does it’s bidding to terraform the earth using our labor.
We are constantly facing the precarity of a world teetering on a pin, clutching the walls of a mountain while staring down the sheer drop. This goes for every micro life, and this goes for the wide world itself.
However, in times of war and crisis, moments not spent fighting and surviving are best spent writing, reading, making art, keeping hands busy, minds clear. No matter the way of the world, artistic and thoughtful creation will be what saves us, what lasts through the crises; humanity’s contingency plan. It will be what provides us freedom and joy and a sense of control in senseless and uncontrollable environments. Every single person has the ability to create, to produce, and while not everyone is an artist, writer, or musician, everybody has a skill to offer, a story to tell, a bit of wisdom to pass on, a perspective to express. I encourage you to write letters to people, journal frequently, paint from the heart even if you’re bad at painting. If you want to do it but tell yourself you’re bad at it, do it anyway. It may just set you free.
“The Crisis of Meaning”
A narrative that, over the past few years, I’ve seen being peddled by faux-intellectual YouTubers and covertly anti-woke mouthpieces, the crisis of meaning idea may seem somewhat poignant on the surface; the lack of cohesive cultural values and a principled milieu for people of the Western world to find pride in is creating a degeneration of society, from our mental well-being to our relationships with our fellow humans, even to our labor and consumption habits.
I despise this narrative.
This “crisis of meaning” idea is actually deeply fascistic, neoliberal, and white nationalistic. It opposes the idea that people may find their meaning, their purpose in whatever the hell they choose, and rather tells us that if we are not culturally and socially congruent, we are egging on the degeneration of society. It tells us that our own personal identities and idiosyncrasies are aiding and abetting the downfall of civilization, and that it’s entirely on us to fundamentally change our individual humanity to fund society.
I despise the idea that a lack of meaning is the root of our issues as a society. For some neo-crusaders, replace “meaning” with “religion”. It is a proposal that criticizes all who take issue with society as lacking in personal responsibility, or degenerate themselves. There is an infinite amount of meaning to be found in our lives - from our families and friendships, our personal lives, our relationship with nature, our hobbies and interests, whichever forms of art we find passion in, producing something of value, our bones to pick and the battles in which we choose to take up arms. These are all things that every single person finds meaning in, in respective capacities.
No, the issue with society is not a lack of meaning - it is an economic one. How is one to find the meaning, the joy in life when they are fighting day in and day out to stay above water; to not succumb to ever worsening material conditions? How is one to find joy in life when they are eating the scraps under the table of multi-billionaires and multi-trillion dollar conglomerates that preside over our very livelihoods, our natural world, and our connection to what we produce and consume?
It is not easy to do so, and hinges only on our willingness to accept these conditions or not. If not, it brings about a deep unhappiness with life.
But this deep unhappiness does not stem from a lack of meaning, it stems from the lack of material breathing room to pursue and sustain what we already find meaning within. If we are unable to find the time and energy to pursue our own meaning, then the world will seem meaningless, life itself will seem meaningless. Those who employ the crisis of meaning narrative would likely tell you that true meaning is found within hard work, religion, building a family - perhaps just a call for austerity and punishment for any deviation from these forms of meaning.
Much of this so-called lack of meaning is a result of the way that the internet depersonalizes and atomizes us, and yet that depersonalization and atomization comes directly from the influence and propaganda of large corporations that have co-opted the purpose of the originally decentralized town square that is the internet and turned it into one giant ad-campaign and purveyor of behavior that is either cultish or wildly antisocial.
Essentially, the peddlers of this narrative wish for humans to be free-thinkers, but not to do anything that goes against the norm. They wish for us to work hard, but not to work for ourselves or question those we are working for. They wish for us to reproduce and find meaning in our children, but not to adopt our own chosen forms of community and family. Essentially, it’s like the black and white signs in John Carpenter’s They Live - obey, consume, reproduce - and only through this will you live a meaningful life.
Humans want to build relationships, friendships, communities that don’t hinge on financial necessity or class. Humans want to be collective in a way where we own what we produce together and reap the rewards of our own labor. Humans want to make art just for the sake of making art, but the necessity to monetize that art burns us out and degrades the quality of said art. Humans want to sow the earth, but most of the arable land has been bought up by corporations or is exceedingly expensive for the working class. Humans want to walk, to explore, to interact with the environment, but the walkability of our towns and cities is so low as to necessitate boxing ourselves into vehicles and sticking ourselves dead in the middle of traffic. Humans want to fulfill whatever role we wish, to actualize ourselves, but conservative standards suffocate us and force us into whichever role is culturally molded to our sex and class. Humans want to fight against oppression and the evil that man does, but the media, owned by the corporations, urges us to fight with each other, and addictive legal substances keep our vision tunneled enough to ignore the real oppressor who looms from up above. Humans are nuanced in our identities, and we wish to express our true, deeper, inner selves in ways that require outer acceptance and empathy, and yet differentiating yourself spells ostracization from the normative world, thus pushing people further into their holes and toward suicidal ideation and the perception of meaninglessness. Humans crave real experience and active participation in the world, while the capitalist system smothers us into docility and passivity using the threat of homelessness and starvation, further decimating our sense of meaning and self-actualization. The cherry on top is the urgency to reproduce within this oppressive system, ultimately inbreeding the working class’ status as nothing more than workers whose only meaning is to be exploited for our labor.
Everything I mentioned above can be a life-saving source of joy and meaning for people, and yet everything I mentioned above has a suffocating antithesis and preventative measure within the system we are forced to live. Again I say, it is not a lack of meaning, it is a direct action of powerful people and corrupt systems to stifle our ability to determine meaning for ourselves. When we have no access to the things that bring us joy and meaning, we have no recourse but to slip into meaninglessness, and that is the problem with society.
Predictions!
There is going to be an increase in cult-like activity and organization, as well as outright doomsday cults, off-grid religious sects, and an evolution of new age spirituality becoming a crutch for many people who may not have been inclined to believe in it before. There will also be a proliferation of online brainwashing cults and god-like figureheads the likes of Andrew Tate. Be weary of all gurus, preachers, and “teachers”.
There may be some sort of large stimulus given to American citizens, or maybe even a form of universal basic income. It could seem very good and much needed on the surface, but will likely also be a method of keeping people momentarily placated and distracted from further attacks on our rights. If this does happen, I recommend that people use the stimulus to further prepare themselves and organize with their family, friends, and communities.
There is going to be a continual increase in both the breadth, quantity, and capability of scams, scammers, conmen and swindlers. In recent years (and exponentially more in the past few months, there have been many outed scams, scam-like business practices, and Ponzi schemes/multi-level marketing schemes involving cryptocurrencies, NFTs, meme coins, consultations, online courses, Cashapp “glitches”, fake followers and subscribers, health insurance, various mystery boxes, in-game purchases and DLCs, subscription services and microtransactions, sugar mommies and sugar daddies, property in the metaverse, new technology and devices, various apps, malware, and many scam-like business practices extending even to the porn, music, and entertainment industries. It is hellish and only going to get worse. Be very, very careful and do your due diligence. Never send money through Paypal using the “friends and family” service unless they are genuinely your friend or family member.
Although the future is not looking particularly bright, it feels as though we have a wonderful opportunity to change the way we approach life itself. The stacked up crises we face is a jolt out of passivity and a push to live a little more simply and humbly, rejecting oppressive systems, and to be closer to the earth and the beings that occupy it.
It seems like at this point, the only thing left to do is to simply do your best to take care of your own little slice of life. Take care of, be supportive, and be kind to the people around you. Put your house in order and maintain your neighborhood. Pick up some trash, plant some native flowers and vegetables. Purchase your friends’ art. Call ya moms and pops. Go out of your way to make your partner and your friends happy. Re-up your self-sufficiency skills as much as is within your means. Grand scale, revolutionary change is a valiant ideal, but with the entire system set up against it and preventing it, while climate disaster, war, and depression are looming, it is much more pragmatic to take care of your immediate surroundings and do the absolute best that you can within your own scope.
I wish nothing but the best of fortune to you all.
Next stop on the Silk Road… “Oh Shit Food” or a Cultural Study on Doomsday Prepping
𝕊𝕀𝕃𝕂 ℝ𝕆𝔸𝔻 𝔾𝕆𝕌ℝ𝕄𝔼𝕋
X
Variety Jones
Pay to subscribe if you love and support us. If not it’s cool, everything is up for free anyway. Just enjoy that shit either way.
Our spotify playlists featuring the best music you never heard before:
Thank you.