Perspectives of a Wanderer

In reading books on the Catholic Land Movement, I have come to the realization that man may not be meant to live in an urban, or even suburban, setting.   In fact, for most of human history, man did not live in large cities or the sprawl that now surrounds them.  It has only really been since the Industrial Revolution, and accelerated after World War I, that a significant proportion of man has migrated toward and lived in large urban settings.  Just since 1900, the percentage of people living in urban areas of the United States has grown from 39.6 to 79.2 in 2000.

Man is a social creature, but urban living does not foster this in a positive way.  Instead of the family being the main social unit (and the Church, most likely, the second), it has been replaced with the workplace, bars, and other institutions that are the antithesis of the family and Church.  Instead of fostering social behavior, it actually promoted isolation in many instances due to the fact that these are not really social interaction as it is meant to be.  This isolationism, in my opinion, is most likely the main factor in the breakup of the family and the increase in anti-social behavior like criminal activity, drug use, and alcoholism.

There are other factors to consider too other than the social interaction like work satisfaction.  I am hoping to discuss this as I get more information on this.

What to do about it is up for discussion.  Not all are suited for the farm. However, I do not believe man can continue to live this way for much longer.   The urbanization of mankind is a blight that must be dealt with.

As for me, I am seriously looking at how I can escape this urban prison.

I have been talking a lot about Distributism and setting  up a separate, but within the current, society.  For me, I consider it the best way to help civilization to survive.
A couple of weeks ago, this appeared in Real Clear Politics:

America’s 10 Freest and Least Free States

From indelibly American quotations like “Give me liberty or give me death” to the iconic pairing of “liberty and justice” in the Pledge of Allegiance, there’s no shortage of examples demonstrating that Americans have historically placed a high value on the concept of freedom.

While the concept of freedom may be in the eye of the beholder, there’s no question that each state has done their best to codify what actions they do and do not leave up to their residents’ choice. But which states give their citizens the most leeway, and which have them on the tightest leash? A study entitled “Freedom In the 50 States: An Index of Personal And Economic Freedom,” published by the Mercatus Center of George Mason University, sets out to answer this question. Click through to see which states rank the highest and lowest by their metrics.

It also linked to the source of this article:

Freedom in the 50 States

This report got me to thinking:

Where would be the best place to set up this society?

Is the US, Canada or Europe the best right now? I am not too sure. For me, they are either a little to materialistic, too hostile to the model, or have geographic (i.e. Weather) constraints.  In addition, the ever increasing Socialist nature of the governments and their incestuous relationship with Global Capitalism, also makes it too hostile to the Distributist Model.

For years, I have been researching way “south of the border” as a possible place to move (especially after I retire) . Why?  They are many but, it manly to get away from the over-Materialist and Relativistic nature of society in the United States.  For me, it is causing a real threat to the total implosion of society here.  As for Europe, it is far worse and Canada is not that far behind.

Although there are pluses and minuses to all of them, there are a few I would consider.  Now if I could get my Distubutist brethren interested, we might be able to make a go of it.  Even without them, I would consider moving if I were to find the right place.

This is a follow up on the entry: From the Distributist Review: Cultivating a Local Food System

I have been reading Flee to the Fields by Dr. Tobias Lanz which is a collection of articles and chapters by various original proponents of the Catholic Land Movement.  One common theme seems to be that of making sure that the people that participated in the movement were properly trained.   It got me to think that modern society has made mankind very reliant, if not totally reliant, on others for survival.

For the most part, we get money from either the employers or the government (which also can be the employer) and we use that money to obtain all our necessities to survive.  It has gotten to the point where we cannot fend for ourselves.  Most of us have never grown our own vegetables/fruit, raised our own animals or hunted for meat, or even fished. I have grown vegetables/fruit and fished (however, I never have prepared what I have caught).

This is a major problem for survival if any disaster happens that would disrupt the supply of goods and must be remedied sooner than later.   One thing the Catholic Land Movement and Distributism have in common is local and personal self-sufficiency.  While we cannot actually learn total self-sufficiency from those movements, they can be used as models for setting up the framework for becoming self-sufficient.

Normally, I do not do entries that include the article in the title, but this one could be interesting. The following is the beginning of an entry over at The Distributist Review:

Cultivating a Local Food System

As the War Mercantilist Socialism economy continues its downward grind, one of the most important tasks for distributists is to ensure local food security. I see six important elements that work together to support local food security:

(1) preparing meals from basic ingredients,
(2) frugal supermarket shopping,
(3) gardening,
(4) food storage,
(5) home preservation of food.
(6) buying local foods,

My posts in this Distributist Review over the next couple months will look at each of these aspects in detail. Since it is hard to “order” these principles in terms of “most important”, I have listed them in a “functional” order. In other words, if you are coming at this brand new, this is probably the order of development for most households.

Self-sufficiency is a key element of both the Catholic Land and Distributists movement. The article got me to thinking how much garbage we put into ourselves and how, with a little time, we can make much of the same things ourselves that are less expensive and more healthy.

The article mentions making your own bread.   If you really looked at the ingredients that are in store bought breads, you would be shocked and alarmed.  I am considering getting a bread machine (there is a reason for getting a machine rather than using the oven that I will not go into here) and start making bread myself.  That way I can control the size and content of the bread.

In addition, I am thinking of getting books on how to make other food items like tomato sauce (more like marinara sauce).

It will be interesting to see where these ensuing articles will go.