Those People

"sur·viv·al·ist (noun): : a person who advocates or practices survivalism; especially : one who has prepared to survive in the anarchy of an anticipated breakdown of society." Merriam-Webster Online, Dec. 21, 2011

"I will never be one of those nutbar survivalist people." -Me, circa 2011

I have never met a survivalist in person. I am absolutely certain of this because I knew what a survivalist would look like. Based on my online encounters with "those people" I was sure I'd be able to spot one. They'd probably be hauling around cases of mason jars and MREs, a glinting look in their eye as they mumbled something to me about The Big One or The Antichrist or The Guberment. Those people were scared of things that would never happen and what a sad, paranoid way to go through life.

And then it happened.

I don't know what 'it' was exactly.  It was gradual. For years I'd loved the idea of raising my own animals for meat. After all I'm no fan of factory farming. Given that it makes sense to grow some food too, doesn't it? Oh! But what if I could grow almost all of my own food? Yeah! And then I could learn to can it. There could be a compost pile! And worms! And I could work the land with horses! And what about rainwater collection? Solar power? What if I actually learned to build things? What if I used mostly recycled materials? What if I relied largely on my own abilities and labor? Wow!

Yeah. Somehow, it happened.

I'm still not convinced that "survivalist" is the most appropriate label. I'm not preparing for social collapse or zombies or the end times or the day Robo-Nixon emerges to rule us all. The ideas of being able to provide for myself even in small ways, of being able to turn dirt and discarded items into something useful, in feeling secure in my ability to thrive in a variety of situations are all things I like.

Thus I dub myself The Self Sufficientalist.