For most of us our call to prepping came suddenly. A weakness was exposed and we were shocked to find just how vulnerable our families had been, like the left hook you don’t see coming. The early stages are very much a selfish endeavor. Food storage, water collection, stocking supplies, stacking silver and the various other procurements involved in creating your new guard against disaster. Before long and this is subjective to the person, you begin to realize that in order for this effort to be successful it has to happen on a larger scale.

To build and strengthen a community in preparation for whatever may come down the road is the key. Communities are the cornerstone of all civilizations. The fact is we have forgotten to nurture our own. Instead of dealing with social issues, food and shelter we have pawned our responsibilities off on the government. Don’t fool yourself we are all very much responsible for the state of the nation today. So the question is: how do you get a neighborhood to buy into preparing and the work that comes with it?

I Am Liberty is a Podcast about just how to take these steps. There are 6 specific avenues within our community that build a solid base; Mentoring, Community Agriculture, Co Op Business, Bartering and Timebanking and finally secure tangible wealth i.e precious metals. I think it goes without saying that communication, sourcing food, bolstering the local economy and exchanging services and products with those around you are all key elements to building strength within a community.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many out there that are doing any of these things. This is no innovation. We have simply forgotten about nurturing the community. It’s not a new idea we are frankenstiening an old way of life. We call it ReRooting America. It is the next step not only in prepping but in preserving the nation and maybe the world.

I believe this next step in preparedness, this community level preparing is going to wire together other important causes. These very basic functionalities in the community are going to resound with people from all types of beliefs and backgrounds. As the processes evolve each one will require communication within the community. The success of each will build confidence and ownership of not just individual property but of the community as a whole.

Dealing with things like the shooting in Sandy Hook should help you to understand the importance of mentoring. Homes are broken in America. They are creating broken children, children that have to medicate in order to get along in this world and appease their selfish parents. Strong mentors create relationships and outlets for children of broken homes. We all understand the benefits of venting the day’s troubles. Mentoring also broadens the horizons of an otherwise trapped mind.

The world puts tremendous strain on the farming industry, the earth and its resources to produce food far away from the home and deliver it, cheap, to the supermarkets. The government spends billions a year to keep food prices down, then we yell at them for spending too much of our money. We have to begin take responsibility for producing our own food. Community gardens are a great opportunity to meet the people in your neighborhood as well as teach the next generation about food production.

The final pieces of the puzzle all have to do with developing a strong independent local economy. Co Op business is the crux of putting opportunity back into the local economy. Through these varied types of businesses you can create local jobs, local cash flow, and even entrepreneurial opportunities. For instance, if your community garden flourishes, imaging your own community store owned by the people in your community and the funds go back to next year’s crop or to fix ailing infrastructure or even help a family who has fallen on a rough patch.

I chose these ideas because each one releases us a bit from government dependence. Whether you know it or not, we look to the government to solve so many problems for us. Food prices, gas prices, disasters, troubled youth, infrastructure, are just some of the problems we look to the government to solve. We have surrendered our power to deal with these issues now. To survive, we have to take the responsibility back.

Prepping is about being able to self-sustain through whatever the future may bring. Hard times are coming and we have brought some of it on ourselves. It is time to look outside of the bunker and into the future. We must take our efforts to the next level and begin to incorporate our communities into our plans. I believe that if our communities prosper and become self-sustaining, then we can build our future to look and act 7

News Reporter
James Walton is the host of I Am Liberty Check out I Am Liberty live on http://www.prepperbroadcasting.com every Friday at 7ET and on http://www.prepperpodcast.com on Thursdays at 9pm ET http://www.iamliberty.wordpress.com iamlibertyshow@gmail.com