I discover new blogs mostly because somebody has decided to follow my blog. Whenever I notice that I have a new follower - something that hasn't happened in a while... am I getting boring? - I always check out that person's profile and if they have a blog, I go over and take a look. Then I look at the list of blogs they follow... etc. I have found a number of interesting sites this way. They tend to fall into four categories: Cooking blogs, farming blogs, fiber blogs, and survivalist blogs.
I'm not sure how I got into the circle of survivalist blogs. I guess because of tags on my posts saying "self-sufficiency," by which I mean things like canning your own produce, not building your own bunker. It's funny to see how the two ends of the political spectrum meet up in this area. Crunchy hippies brewing their own biodiesel and their own beer are suddenly kissing cousins to NRA members and rock-ribbed right wingers worried about zombies.
It's no secret which end of the spectrum I'm on, yet I find myself turning to these blogs for information on what kind of handgun I should get for dispatching pigs and goats (don't worry, I don't own a gun, yet). The ideology that drives us may be very different, but the skills we learn and the actions we ultimately take are strikingly similar. I hope that internet exchanges between survivalist/homesteader blogs may lead to greater understanding and tolerance, at least in individual cases.
I know I've had my mind opened a little bit reading the blogs of people I might not have sought out as friends. The political divide should not hamper our learning from each other and enjoying each other's journals of our activities in pursuit of happiness and independence. Hooray for the internet! And thank you to all the survivalists out there who are putting out terrific information.
Interesting. I think when it comes to politics, Aimee, you don't particularly fit along a simple spectrum. You seem to be in favor of a lot of government interventions, but also believe in a very thorough sef-sufficiency and dedication to personal responsibility. While these things are not contradictory, they are often not found together.
ReplyDeleteI'm not at all surprised that you have lots in common, regarding the infrastructure of your life, with right wing survivalists. It is the societal outcome you hope to accomplish that is different.