America continues down the path to a new era – not because of who does or does not occupy the White House, but because about half of American voters now follow the cult of collectivism and egalitarianism while the other half bitterly opposes it. There is no room for compromise, no chance for reasoned debate. Both sides see this as “winner take all”. Both sides see no alternative to total victory or total annihilation. If this were just another political split, it would be a minor issue to be addressed in a future election. It is not. This represents an extreme cultural split on a massive scale. Our task as Southern Agrarians is to move as far away from that dividing line as possible. We must stake out the cultural high ground so that there can be no doubt as to which camp we belong – or neither camp.
To that end, this is a list of tangible things we can do, presented in no particular order.
- Be an encouragement and a help to your extended family in a way that will make it easier to decide to have a larger family. If that doesn’t apply directly to your current situation, then spend time helping another worthy family. The break-down of the multi-generation family has resulted in serious consequences for society.
- Boldly proclaim the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Leading a soul to eternal salvation is a greater accomplishment than anything else in this life.
- Live a virtuous life at home, at work, and in public. Always speak the truth. We are ambassadors of our great Southern culture and must serve as an example of what that culture stands for.
- Be part of a church that truly believes The Bible 1 as the literal word of God – and acts on it. There are far too many modernist churches that lower standards and try to become like the rest of the world. If you’re in one of those modernist churches, leave and find a real church that is not focused on entertaining the congregation.
- Use the power of the spoken and written word to advance the cause of restoring civility to America.
- Dress more formally than what is customary in today’s society. It demonstrates a respect for others – and for yourself.
- Pay close attention to manners and etiquette, and make them a part of your daily life.
- Pray – not a vain repetition, but pray like you are talking directly with The God who created the entire universe, because that’s exactly what you are doing. He listens to “specks of dust” like us.
- Seek out like-minded people, and form strong bonds with them.
- Treat others with respect. As conditions worsen, there will be those who proudly provided for their families in the past, but find themselves without work or, if they are fortunate, doing menial work. Your turn may come. While those who willingly live off of money stolen from the productive deserve our open contempt, resist the urge unless pressed.
- Follow the Boy Scout slogan of “Do a Good Turn Daily”. Find some way to help someone who would not expect it.
- Follow the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared”. When hard times come, you can depend on no one but yourself and your closest friends and family.
- Produce some of your own food by gardening or small-scale farming, and raising chickens. Those are valuable skills that cannot be learned by just reading a book. It is also the key to our Southern Agrarian culture.
- Understand the foundation of what Southern Agrarianism is by reading I’ll Take My Stand. While Southern Agrarianism is not strictly defined by this book, it is the starting point.
- If you are living in an urban area, move to a semi-rural or rural area. The cities are not only increasingly dangerous, they are corrosive to the soul.
- Arm yourself and learn and practice to become effective in the defense of yourself and your family. Armed men are free men – disarmed men are slaves.
- Turn off the TV, cancel the cable subscription, and disconnect the antenna. TV has done more than anything else to destroy our culture. Don’t allow the filth and propaganda into your home.
- Home-school your children and help and support other home-schoolers if you can.
- Take control of your future by investing your retirement savings yourself so that the government cannot gain control of it.
- Make your home more self-sufficient: put in a well, start a garden, own a sewing machine 2 to make and repair your clothes, install a wood heating stove, increase the insulation in your attic.
- Adopt the idea of “Not for Our time, but for All time” when considering choices for your family and your home. Homes that were built centuries ago still stand today while houses slapped together only a decade or so ago are abandoned and demolished. Think long term for your family and your home.
- Secure your home. Rampant crime is just one of the results of a decaying society where civility is no longer revered.
- Embrace old-school ways of doing things: use paper and pen rather than an electronic device for taking notes (bonus points for using a fountain pen 3); shave with a double-edge safety razor and brush and mug rather than the latest multi-blade gizmo; resist the temptation to automatically upgrade to the latest technology 4.
- Resolve to give no credibility to political correctness. When it comes up, question it and force the source to justify what was said or written. Don’t accept it.
- Watch your language. Make a conscious effort to avoid any obscene or profane word coming from your lips. Crude language identifies the speaker with the worst elements of any society. That such language is now commonly used by “celebrities” is reason enough to shun it.
- Cherish those who are close to you and resolve to repair any relationships that need repairing. Your family, your spouse, your friends – those are more important now than ever, and will become even more so in the future.
- Display the Confederate flag – any one of them – on a regular basis. (see the Code of Confederate Flag Etiquette)
- Sharing a meal as a family is a time-honored tradition. Make the extra effort to have a more formal, structured dinner.
- Resolve to take away the power that the word “racist” has over us; at the same time, remember to treat all men of every race and creed with the respect they deserve as men and as souls that Jesus died for.
- Language is an important part of any culture – the English language is the language of our people. Don’t allow yourself to slip into the sloppy language habits that have become a mark of modern popular culture. Writing and speaking well are the marks of a civilized man or woman. Use correct English in your speech and writing. 5
- Collect books – not digital text, but real paper and ink books that can be read without batteries. As the popularity of digital text increases, there are bargains to be found in used books. 6
- Carry a pocket knife. A generation ago, every Southern male carried a pocket knife – it was almost a rite of passage. Somewhere along the way, the Nanny-state took over, and an incredibly useful tool came to be viewed as a dangerous weapon and a threat to be banned.
- Get out of debt as quickly as possible. Make it a top priority.
- Reduce or eliminate your income dependence by laying the foundation for your own business. Find something that you truly enjoy doing and that others are willing to pay for, and acquire the tools and the skills to provide that service or product at a profit. 7
- The Christmas season has become the emblem of materialism in America and a brief glance at the mayhem of “Black Friday” shopping will confirm that. Turning away from the greed and materialism is a wonderful opportunity for a family lesson in setting priorities. Rejecting materialism now will make life easier later when it is forced on America by a failing economy.
- Find something that you can grow or make at home to give away to others. For some, it is home-canned vegetables or preserves or home-made soap; for my wife and I, it is vanilla extract; for our son, it is egg nog in a variety of flavors. Turn back the clock a bit to a day when people didn’t buy everything from the store, but made it themselves. We also give away much of what our garden produces, and the surplus eggs from our chickens and ducks.
This list was inspired by a list posted at The Thinking Housewife blog. What can you add to this list?
This is an updated version of a post that I first wrote in 2012.
Notes:
- Finding a church that insists on using only the King James Version is a big step in the right direction ↩
- The old cast iron sewing machines will last for generations. Treadle and hand-crank sewing machines in excellent condition are still readily available – we have several of them in our home. ↩
- While a quality fountain pen is not inexpensive, they will last for generations if well cared for. I have my father’s fountain pen that he purchased in the 1950’s. I had it refurbished and it is now as “good as new”. ↩
- At the very least, consider using open source software and Linux rather than falling into the Windows/Mac upgrade trap. ↩
- There are, no doubt, plenty of errors in grammar scattered throughout this blog. If you find them, please let me know so I can correct them. ↩
- A first-class library can be assembled by making regular visits to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army store. ↩
- I spent nine months of evenings and weekends developing the software package that has provided a comfortable living for my family since 1995 – it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. ↩
Happy Easter, Mr. McGehee,
I hope your family had a wonderful day yesterday, celebrating the day of Our Lord’s Glorious Resurrection. My family certainly did!
This is a very good list. I just have a few comments. First, to #6, I would like to add to dress modestly. I get very tired of seeing people letting their”stuff” hang out all over the place. I don’t think it is very Christian, and is quite possibly offensive to Our Lord, source of all our blessings. And the so-called “celebrities” are the worst examples of this.
And to #20 I would just add, learn to mend– clothes, tools, etc. We have become a terrible throw away culture, wasteful of time, skills, resources, and human knowledge. Mending helps to ameliorate some of this. And knitting! My favorite thing to do if I have to wait somewhere. Mending, knitting, all can be creative and worthwhile outlets. Members of my extended family like to brag they have “Heather” made socks, which are really quite easy to knit.
Also, please forgive me, Mr. McGehee, but the lufa seeds arrived a week or so ago and I neglected to let you know. The weather has gotten quite warm here, so I will be planting them soon. The grandchildren that live close by are getting very excited about helping me! Thank you again.
Heather
Excellent points – “offensive to Our Lord” is correct, but probably putting it mildly. The modern media culture pushes the acceptance of this, so people imitate what they see. They just don’t see themselves as others see them.
Mending, fixing, refurbishing, are needed now – and will become a requirement at some point. I have an old axe that was found at the family farm some years ago. It has wire wrapped around it, nails in it, and just about anything you can imagine to keep it working. I keep that in my shed along with my working tools to remind myself of what our ancestors had to deal with so I don’t take what we have for granted. I want to write a post on the topic of keeping things maintained and repaired, and I’ll use a photo of that axe for the illustration. I kept my mother’s and grandmother’s darning needles and thread that they used to repair our socks. I also have the wooden “eggs” that she used to keep the shape when darning the socks. Add that to our collection of treadle and hand crank sewing machines, and we’re probably well set up. My wife will be teaching a sewing class at church in a couple of weeks. Always good to keep passing that knowledge along.
Glad to hear the lufa seeds arrived. Today is my day to water and fertilize them.
Thanks for writing!
Sir, when it comes to church, we must realize that we are in a Kingdom, we who are taking up our crosses daily and following after the Lord are under a Lordship. So, it’s vital that we seek Him in everything that we do. Church is no different. We can ultimately avoid places we shouldn’t be by asking, seeking and if we’re true and sincere about it it, the Lord will lead us where He wants us to go to church.
In 2011, I began going back to church. As I maintained my personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, (praying, studying my bible and asking for His wisdom knowledge and understanding) I began noticing little red flags in that church. I didn’t understand at first but kept praying about it. I finally asked the Lord where did He want me to go. He led me to a little church right down the road from me and the night I went the preacher preached about the very things I was studying in my Bible at the time. Since then, my relationship with Him has became very close and my understanding has greatly increased. Obedience to God is something unheard of even in most churches now. And it’s what saves us in the end. I urge everyone seeking a church to turn to the Master and let Him tell us where to go. It makes a huge difference.