America continues down the path to a new era – an era characterized by 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.
This post is updated from the New Era Resolutions that I publish about every year or so. It needs to be regularly repeated as a reminder that there IS something we can do. We have a choice. We can take positive steps to improve our selves, our families, our churches, our friends, our co-workers, and all those within our circle. Hope is not enough – have a plan.
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.
- Focus on Love Your People. Too many allow themselves to focus on their anger at those who are destroying our traditionalist way of life. While that anger is justified, it drives people away. Show people that Southern Agrarianism offers a beautiful alternative.
- Boldly proclaim the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Leading a soul to eternal salvation is a greater accomplishment than anything else in this life.
- Strive to 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. Tribe and Clan will become even more important in the coming days.
- 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.
- Beauty is an essential ingredient of our culture. Make room in your garden for flowers (they also attract bees and other pollinators to the garden).
- 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. Consider making precious metals a significant part of your savings.
- Make your home more self-sufficient: harvest rainwater or 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 few decades 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 order and civility are 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. Be honest – 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 in your financial planning.
- 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 has been 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, grammatical errors scattered throughout this blog. If you find them, please let me know so that I may 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. ↩
Good to hear from you again, God bless.
I am glad to see you blogging again my brother. I hope you have a good new year.
I rest in the fact that come what may our Lord is sovereign and His will shall be done.
Glad to see your post in my Inbox! All great reminders!
Great to see this post. Excellent encouragement as we enter a new year.
Thank you the article. I agree wholeheartedly with what you have written. I’m wishing we’d had a larger family. I remember my grandparents having brothers, sisters and cousins that were close. They were there for each other in good times and bad. We are few now and we’re all separated and it’s hard to get together for anything.
Please continue to write your column as we all need encouragement and maybe we can pass it along to others.
Thank you,
Lesa T.
Stephen,
I hope that you will add more articles in the near future.
Chris Heuer
My sincere thanks to each of you! I was apprehensive about how it would be received after such a long absence from posting here. I’m not going to try to keep up with any regular schedule, but will be posting as I see the need. Best wishes to you in the coming year.
Just wonderful to hear from you again, I think often of you and your family and wonder how you are all doing. And I also agree with your list for the new year. I’m so happy that my children follow much of that list, all four of them are church goers and married church goers and try to do for themselves at home and one of them is home schooling her three children.
Many, many blessings to you and yours for the coming year, and welcome back!
A welcomed sight, indeed. Thank you, sir. We concur.
May we add:
39. Get at least one good dog, if you ain’t got one.
Good point – got that one taken care of:
Our previous dog had to be put down a year ago, and this is the new one. Same breed (Shetland Sheepdog) from the same kennel, though no relation to our previous one.
Dear Sir, as all who posted before me have said , it is encouraging to hear from you. I am sure we would all enjoy hearing from you more often but understand we all have people that require our time and attention. Again, Thank You for your efforts.
Brother Stephen! I have been extremely proud to have known you now for more than a decade. You are a true Southerner and a devout Christian. Just know you have my full respect and I still have a lot more to learn from you and from others like ourselves! GOD FIRST all the time and forever. May the Gifts from GOD be ever sown by us. We are called to plant the seed and we may or may not see the fruit of the planting in our lifetime as that is not our Divine Right. I love you my Brother.
So glad to hear from you again! How I have missed your writing.
So good to find this in my mailbox. I always look forward to your New Years’ Resolutions each year. I print them and my husband and I review them often throughout the year.
Sincerely,
Karen Conley
Greetings Bro Steve!
Great sites you have, both here and the many links from here too! Long time – No “E”!
Glad to see you back again! We liked your 2022 List. May we take the Liberty {pun intended} to add a comment to #35? The best financial planning {from the start} should be to avoid going into debt to begin with. Of course, we understand that most young people just starting out usually cannot get their first house without a mortgage. As you said, it is best to pay that off ASAP! However, credit card debt should never be started to begin with. That IS avoidable. Never charge anything that you do not already have the money to pay for it. We always pay our credit card(s) in full every month that they are used. We use them only because we make money from our credit card company in the form of cashback bonuses, and also on rare occasions that we need to rent a car, they will not allow cash payment; only credit card. Hope this helps young couples & individuals just getting started, to avoid credit card debt. ~ D & D
PS: We like the cute picture of RJ & Lydia @ Lake Woodruff!
I had to laugh out loud at #34! I was born and raised in SC and my father and grandfather both always carried a pocket-knife. Recently, I needed to cut something outdoors and asked my husband for his knife. He wasn’t carrying one. I said instinctively, “What kind of man doesn’t carry a pocket-knife?” We laughed, but since that day he ALWAYS has one on him.
I’m currently carrying a Case Canoe knife (named for the shape of it). The bone handle is just plain beautiful. Have a healthy and happy New Year!