Is Your Homestead Prepared For the Exodus from Cities?

If you are a homesteader, you know more than most, the joy of being able to wake up and listen to nature sing her morning song. This may also include your chicken’s egg song depending on your homestead setup. We also understand that the reason we are able to enjoy this is because we made a conscious decision, either recently or years ago, to distance ourselves from the ‘concrete jungles’ [ref. Alecia Keys song ‘New York’] OR decided the suburbs didn’t provide the room and freedom to pursue the homestead dream.

To no surprise to homesteaders, many of us are also ‘Preppers’… I’m not entirely sure Homesteader and Prepper aren’t synonymous in some form. Only meaning that we have established a degree of insurance that would ensure we could survive and sustain ourselves in the event of a catastrophic situation, whatever that may be. Part of our ‘preps’ is our land. The fact that we have taken the time and effort to prepare our land, specifically our soil, to grow our food. Something you would think most of society would applaud and not lambast.

Don’t be caught in line waiting for beans, water, and blankets from FEMA!
- A friend of Lamare’s that works for the Department of Homeland Security

Now, the mainstream media is highlighting the fact that us ‘crazy, nut ball, lunatic Preppers’ have been right. Although some of the extreme things some Preppers and homesteaders have prepared for have not happened, one did. A global health emergency that has disrupted our normal way of life.

Regardless of what you may think of the current global health situation, one thing is undeniable. The vast majority of people were completely unprepared. Most notably, those who have decided to live in major population centers.

“Nice Homestead you have…but its now in violation of new County Codes…”

What is interesting about city living, which we have done, is that it’s not too bad when things are working. However, what we have seen is that the city ‘just-in-time’ logistics model is extremely vulnerable to disruption. And when this disruption comes, the concrete jungle brings out the feral nature of people living in close proximity who are struggling to meet their primary needs.

A note to those leaving the cities:

If you happen to be someone fleeing the big city for the safety, security, and freedom of the country, we wish you the absolute best of luck and hope you decide to homestead on your land! One thing to keep in mind about rural folks is that they live in the country for a reason, they want, at the end of the day, one simple thing: to be left alone to live their lives, on their land, grow and raise their own food, live healthier more simple lives, and keep government out of their lives as much as possible. Homesteaders, by nature, are independent people who have chosen the challenging but rewarding life of self-sustainability because it also offers the ability to distance themselves from densely populated cities. We hope you find that homesteaders are very helpful and generous. You will also see that homesteaders are also defensive over their simple way of life. Please appreciate that.

Respectfully,

CampFIRE Homesteading

Depending on what news outlet(s) you read, you are seeing the following headlines as more and more common:

24 April 2020: The Hill | The great exodus out of America’s blue cities
1 May 2020: USA Today | Get me out of here! Americans flee crowded cities amid COVID-19, consider permanent moves
12 June 2020: The Guardian | So long, New York: pandemic and protests spark new exodus to suburbs
17 July 2020: FORTUNE | Are people really fleeing cities because of COVID? Here’s what the data shows
11 August 2020: New York Post | New Yorkers keep moving out of the city to suburbs, other states
14 August 2020: San Francisco Gate | The 2020 San Francisco exodus is real, and historic, report shows
1 September 2020: CNN | These people have left big cities for good. Here's where they landed

I think you get the point.

Why do I raise this?

As much as homesteaders and Preppers think about being able to weather a pending disaster, how much time have you thought about the implications of the incremental arrival of those who previously dwelt in the city? Please note, I am not attempting to frame this as some type of invasion from city folk. However, I am proposing that country folk may need to think about how to best adapt to the arrival of people who lack any awareness of what country life is.

This potential arrival to a rural area near you may bring people who are simply eager to learn how to live off of land, and all the failure and pain that comes with it. They may have learned a valuabe lesson from the ongoing domestic issues and now see the value of having some land, a garden, some chickens, and a maybe even a cow. Are you prepared to help them?

In our interactions on Social Media, we have highlighted that homesteaders should really take some time to think about what life may look like if the ideological demographics shift in a way that is less advantageous to our lifestyle of self-sufficiency. In clearer terms, are you prepared for the potential arrival of former city folk, with progressive ideas about how we should live our lives, manage our property, manage our livestock and argue for higher taxes, all to the detriment of people who just seek to live a libertarian life. Libertarian in that we just want to be left alone to live our lives in peace without increased government involvement or told we are not being good stewards of the land or our animals.

I don’t want anyone to think I am proposing that we prepare for a clash of ideologies. But I am suggesting that we think about ways to become more active in our local political processes to ensure the legislative backbone that supports the homestead way of life is sustained so the next generation can live like we do if they so chose.

If the media reports are correct, there is no doubt a change coming to what we have considered normalcy. What that is, only time will tell. Regardless of what comes down the pike, we would all be doing a disservice to ourselves as homesteaders and preppers if we did not take steps to prepare for what appears to be a pending change to our world. We hope the change is only that the number of homesteaders in America grow!

To access the follow-up to this article, ‘A strategy to Defend the Homestead’, please click the hyperlink.