Good and Evil in the Garden

"Let us never forget that the cultivation of the earth 

is the most important labor of man. 

When tillage begins, other arts follow. 

 The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization." 

Daniel Webster

Mother Rabbit with a snack of dandelion leaves

Yesterday, three of our baby bunnies went missing.

They were taken by neighborhood kids, who were overcome by the cuteness of our wee little rabbits. Can you blame them? I may have done the same, 20 years ago. (Gah! So old!)

Trouble is, the baby bunnies are not yet weened. Taking them from the mother rabbit is a death sentence. Of course, the kids didn't realize this. On a hunch, two friendly gardeners made a visit to the kids' grandmother and explained the situation.

By this morning two of the three baby rabbits had returned. The third, I'm sorry to say, will not have survived this long away from the hutch.

 We run a community garden, and happily share our knowledge and harvest with our neighbors. We have greens and veggies and gourds aplenty! For the most part, our neighbors have been friendly and supportive of the garden. We've canvassed the neighborhood, introduced ourselves and invited everyone to stop by and take a look (and some food) whenever they're free. There are no locks on the gates, and plenty of food and flowers to share. Good communication has helped the garden. Some neighbors are protective of the plot when we're not there, and are happy to have a robust garden on their block. After two years of toiling in the dirt where abandoned houses once stood, we've been accepted as a part of the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, not everyone has been so welcoming. When people become suspicious or feel threatened they resort to selfish, hurtful acts. The garden has had its fair share of  anonymous, destructive events. Last month, we found a long fluorescent light bulb smashed and hidden amongst our tomatoes.  This is not the first time a stranger has tampered with the rabbits, but it is the most egregious.

evil tomato by jv9ufxcy on DeviantArt

 I don't know if it's the election, or the books I'm reading, or just my own paranoia, but there seems to be an awful lot of evil in the world, these days. I'm not exactly saying that today is worse than yesterday, or last year, or the last century... but it is NOT any better. Rather than think critically and make independent choices, more and more Americans (Earthlings, really) have fallen in to the mass media / consumerism trap. You cannot easily blame these "Sheeple" when everything they've been told to think and do has lead them into this trap. We can't think and speak independently in this "modern" world. There's too much information being thrown into our faces, so quickly we find it impossible to successfully synthesize and process. It's easier to tune out, or rather to tune into something more palatable and mind-numbing.

WHY IS THIS SCHMUCK'S WORK-OUT ROUTINE NEWS?!?!

 There are so many seemingly-important news stories that it can be hard to keep up. And why keep up, anyway? Increasingly, I feel like I can't make that much of a difference. Our most powerful tool to bring about change is our vote, but I feel as though my vote is increasingly marginalized.Some say you can vote with your dollars, which is true, but also largely ineffective. What we need to do is start TALKING to each other about things that really matter. We need to stop staring at our computers and smart phones and start looking into the eyes of people around us. Talk to your neighbors, co-workers, family and friends. Find out what's important to them, and what they think of our current state. When we're afraid and distrusting of one another, as well as our news sources and government, who else can we turn to but ourselves?

We are constantly barraged by "unbiased" news stories and the opinions of others. In this sped-up globalized world, what's important is often overshadowed and quickly buried by the latest political mumbo-jumbo and gobbly-gook. We often forget about the details of the last article that seemed so important, which is what "they" want from us. Quiet consumption and little actual action makes this oligarchy's job far easier.


Enough about "us" and "them," though. I won't go all Bilderberg on you, today.

When we stop listening and thinking critically, and stop talking to one another about where our society is headed, what will become of us?

((edited 10.15.12))

The Coming Collapse: Book Review of FOUNDERS by James Wesley, Rawles

Post-apocalyptic, dystopian books are commonplace in my household. It comes with the territory, when you marry a zombie enthusiast, epidemiologist prepper. So, when I cracked open Founders: A Novel of the Coming Collapse I was already feeling a bit jaded.

After all, there are only so many ways that society can fall to pieces, right?

This action-packed, terrifying fictional account of life after the collapse of present-day American is full of good examples of what to do - and what NOT to do - in the event of an economic and societal melt-down.

When Founders arrived in the mail, I was half-way through reading the classic dystopian America novel by George Stewart, Earth Abides. This classic apocalypse novel is GOOD, and extraordinarily relevant for a book published in 1949. Billed as one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, Earth Abides chronicled the life of one man in California, following the implosion of American civilization and its socioeconomic crash.

So, when Founders arrived it was a struggle to set aside Earth Abides. I found motivation to do so when Sean swiped Founders when I wasn't looking, and started reading.

James Wesley, Rawles is a name that demands respect in the prepper community. Rawles is the founder of SurvivalBlog.com. He's an avid survivalist prepper with a strong military background, a Christian, a rancher and (apparently) a Ron Paul supporter. He's also the author of two other novels about the economic and societal collapse of America: Patriots and Survivors.

Suffice it to say that Rawles knows his stuff.


Set in the very near future, Founders tells the story of what happens to America after "The Crunch". Debt is the culprit of our country's swift decline, and when the economy collapses it triggers myriad of catastrophies. The aftermath of the Crunch is where the real problems arise. A shortage of medical personnel and supplies, and information, is the perfect storm on the East Coast. A vicious flu wipes out most of the population along the Atlantic coast, and quickly travels across the country. The American government all but disappears, along with all of their safety nets. Millions of Americans die from illness, lack of food and medicine, and at the hands of their neighbors.

It's chaos, and it ain't pretty.

Those who do survive the initial Crunch are left to deal with the looter gangs and vigilantes who thrive in this vacuum, as well as the countless unprepared Americans who are left to fend for themselves in an new and dangerous world.

Rawles takes the reader across the new Midwest, offering a view of what it means to be an American in the years directly following the collapse. Founders has a distinctly military perspective. My eyes glazed over as I read paragraph after paragraph about various guns and other weapons, and how to best protect family and property in an unsafe world.

At first, I was turned off by all of the gun talk. The more I read, though, the more I began to understand the importance of having the right tools for the task at hand. I began this book as a novice, with little knowledge of or interest in firearms. Now, I'm eager to learn more about the differences between a rifle and an AR, and how to actually hit a target.

More importantly, Rawles repeatedly stresses the importance of community in times of great struggle. You have a much better chance of surviving "The Crunch" if you surround yourself with trustworthy people with useful skills and ideas. THIS IS SO TRUE. It's not enough to have good friends, though. You must also better yourself by learning skills that make you more valuable and adept in a crisis situation. We live in an increasingly "soft" society focused on money and the media. If this 21st century lifestyle disappears, will your "modern" skill set help you survive?

Spirituality is also key to survival in this new and unpredictable America. Rawles is a devout Christian, and he finds creative ways to express his beliefs in this novel. However, he gives ample attention to other religions as well. Rawles knows that the ability to believe in a greater power is more important than belonging to a specific religious sect. Belief helps buoy hope, and the characters in Founders need all of the hope and help they can get.

Sean and I raced through Founders in a matter of days, and discussed it at great length. I thought that there was too much gun talk. Sean did not appreciate the continued religious references. We both understood the significance of these facets, and how they helped the various characters survive (or not). The repeated references and quotes from George Stewart's Earth Abides were sprinkles on this horrifying cupcake of doom.

The necessity of community, the importance of working together, was what I most appreciated while reading Founders. I'm a strong believer in the value of a good group of friends. A pack fares better than the lone wolf in this dystopian world. People with strong morals and the motivation to help themselves and their loved ones fared far better than the lost masses, who searched for someone to solve their problems.

Plenty of bad guys thrived as well, in Founders. They were quick to take advantage of the lack of government leadership and law enforcement. As supplies became scarce, gangs grew in strength and numbers. Ranches and towns were besieged by raiding looters. A replacement government also rose during the chaos, but they were not of the people, by the people or for the people.Violence begets violence in Founders, and everyone is fighting for their own cause. This could only lead to a brutal second American Revolution.


So, how did I like the book? Well, I'm headed to the local library in a few minutes, the other two books by Rawles are waiting for me. I've come away from Founders with a greater awareness of what is and isn't important in the grand scheme of things. I'm also a new fan of James Wesley, Rawles - and this book is sure to win him many more admirers. I'm nearly finished with Earth Abides, and these other two books will be my reward.

Reading this book made me more paranoid, but also more hopeful.
I feel like Sean and I are on the right track. Are you?


Founders: A Novel of the Coming Collapse by New York Times bestselling author James Wesley, Rawles will be released on September 25, 2012. (Emily Bestler Books / Atria; $25.99)