Ok, let's turn away from politics and tackle another, perhaps most important, issue of prepping; community building.
One thing I, as an immigrant, am facing is the lack of social cohesion and/or acceptance. It is not just being a migrant, but also holding views that many in my hostcountry see as outdated or even offensive.
I know every western country faces its issues with that (yes, I know; politics), but how to mitigate that? How do you build community when cultures are incompatible or even hostile?
If it helps at all, I was born here and I find myself completely politically homeless.
What I find helps me is to remember that people in my community mostly all have similar desires and the same human needs and emotions. Most of us want to look after ourselves and our loved ones, have a roof over our heads, have a sense of purpose and to have enough money or resources to be able to do the things that make us happy.
I don’t think we have evolved as quickly as the world demands of us. How can we possibly have a full understanding or even an opinion on half of the stuff going on around the world? We can’t. Those who claim to have an answer to it all are lying.
Humans evolved in smaller communities. We had tens of thousands of years of it, and only in the last maybe 200 years have global affairs been foisted upon us, nowhere near long enough for us to meaningly evolve to accommodate it.
What can we actually do? We can contribute to our immediate community. We can be good and honest people to those we interact with daily. We can look out for out neighbours, and not leave litter on the ground next to a bin because it isn’t our problem. We can go and pick it up and put it in the bin and in doing so we’ve made our community that bit stronger.
If someone’s values don’t impact you, leave them be. Do not tolerate the intolerant, those who would try to force their values upon the collective values of your community.
We can build communities by realising that 99% of the stuff we hear in the news and on social media is deliberately designed to make you angry at someone else in your community so that you don’t notice how much has been stolen from you by the real enemy.
If you go somewhere like the Bush Moot you really see what community is. People of all backgrounds and persuasions coming together, respecting each other and sharing skills and knowledge.
(Ok genuinely going to the garden with a beer now.
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