For the handful of people who have followed my journey, or are at least aware of it, in two days I’m going to have my tenth anniversary of leaving the Illusion of what most consider ‘The Real World,’ behind me. April 9th 2016 was the last day I was allowed to work at the job I’d had for over twelve years. I was fired because certain lies were leaked to the paper. In a way, this was alright with me for it was harder to make a proper presentation at my former place of employment after I was set up and hit the floor hard. At the time losing my ability to see my young boys, have access to any of the possessions I spent decades accumulating, and have a stream of decent income sent me into a spiral of struggle, oscillating between camping in the forest, couch surfing, and traveling when able.
Although WildernessPunk would officially begin four months later, in truth it had begun the day I’d lost my job three days after already losing my boys and everything I owned. Sure, I still pay my taxes for goods and I’m back to driving a car presently, but in many ways I turned my back on trying to live a normal life ten years ago and set out on my own trail. This path, after years of terror and torment, did lead to me gaining complete custody of my boys and getting married to a woman better than I ever imagined a person could be. So yes, I am no iconoclastic writer living in the forest on the fringe of civilization, (Anymore) my children attend schools and I shop at Albertsons. I admit, as much as I’d like to deny or avoid it, I’m part of the culture, an American culture which values blood over food, and money over common sense.
As the belt of overpopulation and climate change tightened around our gluttonous country we had two real choices. Embrace the future and channel tax dollars into alterative energies and shift to human focused funding or double down on the last of a dying system.
One favored old money and the billionaires, so I guess we know which one the appointed fascists picked. The only thing which surprised me was how quickly we started killing people so we could steal their resources. This leaves me to wonder; if we are doing this now, while things are still clinging to the illusion of a status quo, what will our government be like if we really start to run dry on resources?
I’m sure we’ll find out before another ten years has passed.
Funny how my experience which began ten years ago has mirrored our country’s experiences in many ways. Ten years ago, our normal was replaced by trashy hate and blatant lies much as my personal life was.
After Covid we returned to some level of normalcy but there was always the fear of the madness and blatant hate lurking in the background, ready to pounce. With the aid of the villainous billionaires, a raging hate filled narcissist was able to convince the majority of voters that hate was more important than prosperity and racism was more important that billionaires stealing their dreams, while making their own more bloated and grotesque.
So where has ten years of lies and hate gotten us?
Murder, war, genocide…sounds like I’m reading someone’s holy book.
As supplies run short and the climate turns more once fertile farmland into desert, I have a feeling that lies about who one should hate will lead to more wars and murder, while those who can, steal for those who can’t fight back. I suppose the real question is, are we going to bounce back from this? Will we get leaders willing to spend money on people and renewable energy instead of fear, thievery, and death, or is this the beginning of the new us?
How do you feel about this being the new you? Is the death of hundreds of Venezuelans worth lowering our gas prices by ten cents for two weeks? How do you like being part of the infrastructure of this country who bombs babies for billionaires?
I know I’m not keen on the idea and I hope we get a swing back to rational. Remember we just have to keep as much of the truly real world, and by this I mean our biodiversity, alive until the lights go out. Even if we don’t make it, maybe some of the animals can, and I’m more inclined to vote for them.
Check back in with me in another ten years. Who knows maybe we’ll all be WildernessPunkers by then.
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