Be Thankful For Community

For my part, I choose to give thanks to the Pilgrims and all the early colonists.

I don’t have much for you today, as it’s Thanksgiving and I trust all of you will spend the day with family, not reading a stranger’s online rantings and ravings. I have a busy day myself, as I have taken on the responsibility of preparing the holiday meal, so I’ll keep this brief.

First, I’m going to point you to Todd Sepulveda’s Ready Your Future podcast. He released a Thanksgiving-themed episode earlier this week, exploring the preparedness lessons we can take away from the Pilgrims traveling to and settling in the New World. A big reason I enjoy listening to Sepulveda so much is because he’s as “normal” as a prepper gets. He lives in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area, not out in the country, and he doesn’t have a military or public safety background. In other words, he’s a lot more relatable than the stereotypical prepper. That’s nothing against those who live out in the country or have a military/public safety background, but the simple fact is, most of us don’t fit into that profile. I’m a big believer that on some level, you need to be able to relate with your interlocutor.

He only releases two episode a week - a long one lasting up to an hour plus a short one lasting only several minutes - so he’s easy to keep up with, unlike the podcasters who do an episode daily. You all know I’m a big believer in the law of diminishing returns; less is more when it comes to something like podcasting. It’s also more accommodating to the working person, instead of expecting someone to be listening at all hours.

Anyway, in his Thanksgiving episode, Sepulveda stresses the importance of community. He also stresses that community needs to be bound together by something more than simply survival. Short-term, this might be enough to hold the group together. But long-term, interests will diverge. Having lived in peace with those vastly different from us for so long has blinded us to the fact that humans are tribalistic creatures. All animals are. Simply thinking the same good thoughts is never enough to keep us together. Thoughts can be propagated, but bloodlines and culture cannot. The Pilgrims, as well as all the colonists who went on to establish this country, were united less by ideal and more by shared blood and religion. In today’s progressive times, it’s fashionable to think of these things as outdated, but they’re not. They are literally what makes us who we are.

We like to think that as long as we’re like-minded, or we’re nice people, we can build strong communities and families together. It’s a nice thought, but that’s all it is. It’s not enough on its own. Ideology is no substitute for blood, culture, and faith. History has proven this time and again. It’s a lesson we’re learning in real time. It may not have been the challenge of our forebearers, but it’s certainly our challenge.

This Thanksgiving, if you enjoy the benefits of strong community and family, give thanks. You are more fortunate than many people of this world. You are wealthy in ways money can’t buy. There exists a loneliness crisis in our society, so if you have regular access to a community and family, you’re better off than so many of your fellow countrymen. Give a thought to those less fortunate, but most of all, think of ways you can maintain and continue to strengthen your communities and your families. It’s the only way to endure life’s challenges. It’s the only way to overcome the many strange bounces life will throw your way.

For my part, I choose to give thanks to the Pilgrims and all the early colonists. Without them, none of us would be here. There’s tremendous resentment from those beyond the West, many of whom have chosen to live here, for our supposed errors and ills. But I see right through it - it’s not that we’ve done them wrong which bothers them. It’s the fact their ancestors couldn’t accomplish what ours have. Meanwhile, they depend on our societies and our genorsity for a better life.

I think it gnaws at them. Good riddance.

Most Of All, Let It Go

Your political differences, I mean. Just for a day. It’s unfortunate that we’ve become such a partisan society that we cannot enjoy family gatherings without it devolving into political shouting matches. I genuinely believe it’s a sign of just how much trouble our country is in, but again, we won’t get into that today.

If you think you can’t get along with your family members of different political persuasions, just look at the photograph below:

In fact, print it out, place it near your dining area. Let it serve as a recent reminder that yes, you can let it all go, just for a day. There will be plenty of time for political squabbling, I’m sure of it.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Talk to you next week.

Max Remington writes about armed conflict and prepping. Follow him on Twitter at @AgentMax90.

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