No matter where I turn it seems we’ve all become, perhaps out of necessity, survivalists; not survivors, but survivalists. The American Heritage dictionary defines a survivalist as:
- One who has personal or group survival as a primary goal in the face of difficulty, opposition, and especially the threat of natural catastrophe, nuclear war, or societal collapse.
It seems to be fundamentally different situation from that of a survivor; which according to the same source is someone who perseveres. See a survivor’s done it, finished it, defeated it. A survivalist on the other hand is on the perseverance treadmill, ever vigilant, constantly dealing with threats real and imagined. The modern survivalist is inundated; terrorism, BP’s Oil Debacle, the Taliban, the Great Recession, healthcare, identity theft, social oppression and the cheerleaders of doom and gloom, (not me see Glen Beck.) Have we evolved from the gun toting, forest deweling, toilet paper hoarding Survivalists and Militias so prevalent in the 1980s and 1990s, or have we all become more common survivalists, yet more accepted and casually attired?
Consider again the Tea Party; give Billy and Betty Jo Stump a Smart Phone, a mantra and change the camo into chinos; age them 11 years, add a Sarah Palin badge and viola, instant Tea Party activist!
Lately I’ve been focussed on a new kind of employment the “survival job“. While I’m far from a coal miner, no need to shake coal dust from my hair, have a Canary at work, or worry about black lung, I am not what I set out to be. Neither are many of my friends and acquaintances. Sometimes, when discouragement sets in, I’ve had to resort to an aphoristic behavior: I read the Desiderata. It helps me to realize that it’s yet better here in the US then it is in most of the world. Why else is our primary immigration issue one of influx and not outflow, it’s becuase we have something of value and we don’t want to lose it!
So maybe as whacky and capricious as those Tea Partiests seem to me perhaps they’re doing some good. I may just be tired, grumpy and fearful, but I hope to survive being a survivalist, I certainly pray I will.
Much Love!
Tom
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