It was said by people who knew FDR intimately that, since he was crippled himself, he hated healthy and robust men. It is not hard to imagine men who are confined to wheelchairs secretly harbor a resentment that can approach hatred towards men who can walk and enjoy life AND LOVE AND SEX. Moreover, I also understand that his wife liked young "studs." This, also, doubtlessly could have fueled his zest to see young men maimed and killed.

We generally, out of decency, do not mention this probable disposition, but it may occasionally bear contemplation and honest consideration.

In Time of 'The Breaking Of Nations'

Only a man harrowing clods
In a slow silent walk
With an old horse that stumbles and nods
Half asleep as they stalk.

Only thin smoke without flame
From the heaps of couch-grass;
Yet this will go onward the same
Though Dynasties pass.

Yonder a maid and her wight
Come whispering by:
War's annals will cloud into night
Ere their story die.

-- Thomas Hardy

1. Plant some fruit trees on a piece of land inherited from my grandfather so they'll be bearing fruit or about to start doing so if and when I start living there.

2. Drill a well and install an old-fashioned hand pump.

3. Download and store a lot of old out of copyright books (with few exceptions, the only ones worth having nowadays are all old and out of copyright) from Google and elsewhere, such as the 1911 Brittanica, great works of literature, old Greek and Latin textbooks and all the Greek, Roman, Byzantine, English and Southern literature and histories I can find, and in case the electricity goes out for an extended time:

4. Make sure I have dry, secure storage for the expensive books I have bought over the years, then cull the ones without enduring value.

5. Find a solar source for charging batteries or otherwise powering equipment, so I can still use Dr Fleming's 'History and Literature of the Ancient World', and some other audio resources, if and when when the 'lectric goes out.

6. Fix a good garden spot on that land.

7. Find some means to build a house there that will withstand storms and not be too susceptible to fire.

8. Get back to fishing and hunting at least enough that I can catch fish and shoot straight again.

9. Get all the tools and implements I'll need for whatever I might need to do, and warm durable clothes in case Penney's or the evil Wally World cant supply our needs or we cant get there.

There are other things I've been considering, but there's no need to blather on. This isn't crackpot survivalism, it's just forethought; however, we may all do well to learn a bit about self-reliance skills from some survivalist publications.

I'm an Arkansawyer and a Southron born and bred. Where else would I go to make my stand? When it's all said and done, I'll be preaching the gospel of Dixie till I die, even if I'm the last one left to do so and no one listens or has enough sense to understand.

I'll tell my kids, if I can ever afford to have any, the story my other granddad used to tell me on the front porch, the one his maternal grandfather told him on the porch when he was a child, about how soldiers used to wrap salted meat up in cloth and tie it to their leg, and how, when he was at Chickamauga, a yankee bullet tore the meat and his entire pant leg off, and never touched his leg.

I sure will miss my German beer, though, and the occasional cheap French wine that no self-respecting Frenchman would ever drink, and my cheap imported olive oil that no self-respecting Greek or Italian would ever use for anything.

Even so, a nice trip to Europe before the hard times come would be nice, and I'd spend it in the Cathedrals and libraries and museums and at the monuments and on the battlefields.

This is good advice. I would also advocate forming a small group of trusted friends and learning how to brew beer and or make wine. Much good fellowship to be had and you will gain practical knowledge of one or two great traditions of the west.

One of the problems that foster the unreality and escapism of our current deracinated lives is being unable to obtain the most basic needs of life for ourselves. Being able to cook, garden, raise some form of livestock, drink home brew and enjoy good company is good salve for the terrifing dependancy we have been lulled into. If you can confront and succeed in solving some of the basic problems of life independently or with a band of fellows, the higher problems of culture might look a bit less overawing.