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Page added on January 10, 2015
All Over America, Government Officials Are Cracking Down On Preppers
Why would the government want to punish people that are just trying to work hard, become more self-sufficient and take care of their families? There are approximately 3 million preppers in the United States today, and often they appear to be singled out for punishment by bureaucratic control freaks that are horrified at the thought that there are families out there that actually want to try to become less dependent on the system. So if you use alternative methods to heat your home, or if you are not connected to the utility grid, or if you collect rainwater on your property, or if you believe that parents should have the ultimate say when it comes to health decisions for their children, you could become a target for overzealous government enforcers.
Once upon a time, America was the land of the free and the home of the brave, but now we are being transformed into a socialist police state where control freak bureaucrats use millions of laws, rules and regulations to crack down on anyone that dares to think for themselves.
For example, people have been burning wood to heat their homes since this country began. And this is still very common in rural areas. But the Obama administration does not like this at all. The Obama bureaucrats at the EPA fear that our little wood stoves may be contributing to “global warming”, so they have outlawed the production and sale of 80 percent of the wood stoves that are currently in use. The following comes from a recent Forbes article…
It seems that even wood isn’t green or renewable enough anymore. The EPA has recently banned the production and sale of 80 percent of America’s current wood-burning stoves, the oldest heating method known to mankind and mainstay of rural homes and many of our nation’s poorest residents. The agency’s stringent one-size-fits-all rules apply equally to heavily air-polluted cities and far cleaner plus typically colder off-grid wilderness areas such as large regions of Alaska and the American West.
While EPA’s most recent regulations aren’t altogether new, their impacts will nonetheless be severe. Whereas restrictions had previously banned wood-burning stoves that didn’t limit fine airborne particulate emissions to 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air, the change will impose a maximum 12 microgram limit. To put this amount in context, EPA estimates that secondhand tobacco smoke in a closed car can expose a person to 3,000-4,000 micrograms of particulates per cubic meter.
Most wood stoves that warm cabin and home residents from coast-to-coast can’t meet that standard. Older stoves that don’t cannot be traded in for updated types, but instead must be rendered inoperable, destroyed, or recycled as scrap metal.
Does that make you angry?
It should.
There are other preppers that try to use very “clean” methods to power their homes, but that is still not good enough for some government control freaks.
For example, one prepper down in south Florida that had gone “off the grid” was recently ordered by a court to connect back to the grid or face eviction from his home. The following is an excerpt from a recent article by Guiles Hendrik…
Think you are still free to make choices in your life? Do you think the government will allow you to live independent of their utility monopolies? If you think so, try opting for renewable non-grid tied power and utilize environmentally friendly composting toilets and your own self-sufficient water supply. Today, those life choices could land you in jail if you live in South Florida. Take the case of Robin Speronis.
Robin Speronis has lived off the grid, independent of the city’s water and electric system. A Florida court ruled this off-the-grid living illegal last week and has given Robin until March to connect her home to a municipal water line or face possible eviction. Further, officials in the city of Cape Coral have justified this by deeming Robin’s home “unsanitary,” citing the International Property Maintenance Code. First of all, since when did we begin to locally recognize “international codes?” Where in the US Constitution does it provide for international jurisdiction over local codes? Ironically, this “international” code mandates that homes be connected to an electricity grid and a running water source, even though most of the world lives without reliable electricity and municipal water and sewer. Further, the code is outdated and obsolete because it was written without consideration to both old and new technologies that relegate the need for grid tied power and municipal water as unnecessary and expensive; especially, in locations where it simply isn’t feasible to have grid tied utilities. Nonetheless, Speronis’ home does in fact have power and water through far cheaper and more environmentally friendly means — solar panels and rainwater, but that reality is ignored by the local government.
Incredibly, most Americans still seem to believe that we live in a “free country”. But we don’t. Our lives are very tightly constrained by literally millions of laws, rules and regulations, and more are being added every single day.
Even some of our most basic fundamental rights have been seriously eroded. One of these is the right to make basic health decisions for our own children. In New York state, children that have not received all of the designated vaccines can now be banned from attending public school, and this requirement was recently upheld by a federal appeals court…
New York state’s requirement that children be vaccinated before attending public school does not violate their constitutional rights, a federal appeals court in Manhattan said on Wednesday.
In affirming the requirement’s constitutionality, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld a previous ruling by a federal judge that students exempted from the requirement for religious reasons can be barred from school when another child has a disease preventable by a vaccine.
The decision was the latest to go against three parents from New York City who say their religious rights were violated when their children were kept out of school as a result of the immunization policies. The parents’ lawyer, Patricia Finn, said her clients planned to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
So what are we free to do without government interference these days?
Not much.
In fact, in some states we can’t even sit on our own land and collect the rain as it falls from the sky for our own personal use.
If you do this in the state of Oregon, for example, you could go to prison…
Gary Harrington, the Oregon man convicted of collecting rainwater and snow runoff on his rural property surrendered Wednesday morning to begin serving his 30-day, jail sentence in Medford, Ore.
“I’m sacrificing my liberty so we can stand up as a country and stand for our liberty,” Harrington told a small crowd of people gathered outside of the Jackson County (Ore.) Jail.
Several people held signs that showed support for Harrington as he was taken inside the jail.
And of course these are just a few examples. Almost every single day there are more stories in the news about government bureaucrats cracking down on preppers. They almost seem to relish the opportunity to go after the “non-conformists”.
But the good news is that the number of Americans that are seeking to become less dependent on the system just continues to grow.
So what about you?
Are you a prepper?
My friend Daisy Luther recently wrote a piece entitled “45 MORE Signs That You Might Be One of Those Crazy Preppers“. The following are some of the most interesting “signs” from her list…
*You spend your days off digging an underground bunker in your backyard.
*Your family doesn’t dare take something from the food stockpile without marking it off the list.
*Your kids know how to don a gas mask in 30 seconds.
*Everyone in your survival group carries the same firearm so that ammo is standardized.
*Your family is no longer surprised when you announce, “Hey, we’re going to learn how to make (insert anything here)!”
*You have long since accepted the idea that if you’re not on someone’s list, you’re probably not doing it right.
*You don’t just rotate food, you rotate ammo.
*Moving to a new house is no longer “moving”, but “strategic relocation”.
*Your kids think it’s a fun game to see who can find the most potential weapons in a room.
*Your EDC includes a knife, firearm w/extra mag, flashlight, mylar blanket, Chapstick, and an ounce of silver — and that’s just for when you’re walking the dog.
*One criterion for your new winter coat is that it fits over your body armor.
You can read her entire article right here.
America was built by people that loved their families, worked hard and were self-sufficient.
Now our government is specifically targeting those kinds of people.
What in the world is happening to us?
Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog
16 Comments on "All Over America, Government Officials Are Cracking Down On Preppers"
J-Gav on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 10:46 am
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised … I mean, after all, collecting rainwater is a pretty serious offense, right?
dave thompson on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 11:11 am
I collect rain water in wash tubs from my down spouts off my roof. Now mind you I mostly use it for yard plants and on occasion washing my hair. What I get out of it mainly is the fact that water is heavy and work intensive to use in this fashion. In my leafy paradise of mid western suburban bliss, I get a lot of stares from my neighbors but so far have not been harassed by local authority.
ghung on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 11:23 am
I’m not contesting the overall gist of this article, but some of these things have been going on for decades in certain areas. When I began building my home almost 20 years ago, building codes required certain things I never planned to use. Wood heat couldn’t be the primary source of heating so I had to make other arrangements. The inspectors finally agreed to allow radiant/hydronic heating in the slab, which I was already considering. Required an expensive boiler I didn’t need since I planned to heat water using wood and solar. I never installed a real boiler; the inspectors allowed the use of a less expensive tankless propane water heater which I later configured as a backup for our solar/wood DHW. I also went ahead and installed duct work in case I ever wanted to move air around.
Most of the hoops government wants us to jump through can be dealt with using a little creativity.
Regarding the case in Cape Coral Florida; The woman (not ‘he”, as stated in the article) wasn’t paying a water/sewer bill, but was using the municipal sewer system free-of-charge. This is what got her on the gridweenie’s radar. Many municipalities won’t allow continued occupancy in a residence that has no municipal water/sewer service or septic system. If she had just paid the basic water bill, she would likely have been left alone. Once you get on the PTB radar, it’s generally down hill from there. They want their pound of flesh, so to speak.
Regarding vaccinations: This is, indeed, a public health issue. Not immunising against certain diseases puts others at risk, allowing these diseases to gain a new foothold amongst the population. Whether or not we should have the freedom to infect others because of our personal choices seems like a selfish question. History tells us that the good of the many clearly outweighs the risks to the few in this reagard. Ask old folks who lived before vaccinations were commonplace what they think.
Regarding laws discouraging off-grid (vs grid-tied): It’s usually big energy who attempts to get these laws enacted. Their govt. puppets simply cooperate. When the inspectors looked at my final survey/deed, they noticed no rights-of-way or easements (for utilities) and questioned that. I told them I never planned to connect to the grid. At first they baulked, but let that drop (no legal justification). They did, of course, require a permitted septic installation/inspection with perc test and all that; a separate permitting process. No problem there.
Jump through whatever hoops they require, then stay off of their radar. Much easier in a rural setting. By the time we got into our home, the inspectors were excited about the whole set-up; thought it was quite cool, and I had done the things they needed to cover their asses.
J-Gav on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 12:31 pm
Congratulations Ghung on managing to both “do it right”(officially) whilst continuing to do it your way! Yours sounds like a model people should be paying attention to.
NB – I think I understand now why you’re not out on the frontlines of those promulgating such methods and values to the masses. You’re already doing enough here on PO. Spending half your working day on spreading the ‘good news’ to the masses would mean your own
family’s viability would be reduced, n’est-ce pas?
Davy on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 1:04 pm
G-man, your comment is exactly my experience and my point of view. Those who are preaching conspiracy with prepping and the government are doing preppers a disservice by exaggerating and distorting reality. Like paying taxes you are going to have to give big brother some flesh. Just write it off as entropic decay and get on with it. G, your radars screen analogy is a must follow truth.
ghung on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 3:24 pm
Thanks, guys. The trick to successful prepping is to not look like you’re prepping (in reality, not be the prepper). Want off-grid power? Be the guy that hates paying a power bill. Want a prepped home? Be the guy that has a functionally conventional home with a few ‘extras’. Want to grow your own food? Make it a hobby like lots of folks. Want a bunker? Root cellar for your home-grown produce; doubles as a storm shelter..
Location is important. Trying to prep in a gated community with a bunch of by-laws and snooty, curious neighbors who can’t mind their own business is probably not the best place, although I read a story about pot growers who prefer gated communities, but they grow indoors and appear to everyone to be the quiet business person next door. Same strategy; he’s not a grower; he’s the quiet business guy next door. One guy even had a front as a plant buyer and garden products tester for a big box home store so he could openly get deliveries of growing materials. Made sure all of his neighbors knew what he did (“I buy and test garden products for a major chain”).
A good ‘cover’ for prepping is buying and selling products to stupid people who think society is going to crash. “Some folks will believe anything, eh? [wink, wink]”
Un-permitted projects can get you on the radar as well. Local tax offices use aerial photos these days to look for permanent structures not on your tax inventory. Building something without claiming it on your property tax form invites the man in. It happens a lot in my rural area.
Prepping in plain sight isn’t that hard. Make other excuses.
Davy on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 5:14 pm
Sound advice G-man, I would add: You want to have a blast with benefits. Try it as a hobby.
Go Speed Racer on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 8:04 pm
What about get the hull of an old nuclear submarine, and bury it in your backyard.
As long as you keep the conning tower covered up with a blue tarp, the authorities won’t know what you have got.
And it would hold lots of guns, ammo, and freeze dried food. 🙂
Makati1 on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 8:56 pm
Was a time when real freedom reigned in the States. My dad built several of our homes. The first two had cistern water systems and a covered stone cesspit in the back yard. That was one up on the outhouses common in those days if you lived in the countryside.
As for vaccines, they may have been safe in the old days when they did proper testing and didn’t require them of everybody. I remember polio vaccines on the sugar cubes. But I never had the other ones and managed to survive childhood quite well, thank you. I experienced measles and chickenpox without more then some discomfort. But today’s vaccines for everything but hangnail are a waste of resources and prevent the weak from being culled from the herd. A strong immune system is more important than what expensive shots you got as a kid.
kanon on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 11:18 pm
I hope this site will get back to focus on peak oil. This article is plainly off-task. The examples in this article have all been floated before and they all involve exigencies making them actually poor examples of persecution of “preppers.” Also, did I mention this has nothing whatsoever to do with peak oil.
dubya on Sun, 11th Jan 2015 12:02 am
My experience is much like Ghung’s – Find a non-conforming neighborhood, do some weird stuff with your house ask the building inspector what you can do before you do it.
-Roof water catchment to a 40,000 l cistern
-Solar PV with future grid connect
-solar thermal annualized geothermal heat storage
-biogas generator septic tank, all approved by the authorities
-practice a little biathlon to justify 100 rounds a week there & keep people used to seeing rifles outside in Canada
-ex-armed guard trained on long arms, shotguns, 357 revolver, 45auto, with the legal minimum registered.
-growing hundreds to 1000’s of pounds of grain & vegetables annually
-enough geese, deer, moose, bears wander through our yard so I keep legal for hunting in case any of them start to look tasty.
Using free roof water & dumping it in the town sewer is not a good way to stay on everyone’s good side.
However I would still never call myself a ‘prepper’, I don;t really understand the term – this is just life.
Makati1 on Sun, 11th Jan 2015 7:41 am
Let’s see. Since we don’t have to borrow money from a bank and we do not have to buy insurance, we can build what we want on our property. No building inspection required in the countryside here (the Ps). But, of course, you build to meet the natural requirements if you want to be safe so that means reinforced concrete and CMU. A safe, livable home can be built for $25/sq.ft. incl. labor.
Harquebus on Mon, 12th Jan 2015 6:45 pm
How can a non-immunized child infect an immunized one? I can’t see the problem.
Apneaman on Mon, 12th Jan 2015 7:16 pm
No vaccine is 100% effective. 85-90% approximately.
What Would Happen If We Stopped Vaccinations?
“Before the middle of the last century, diseases like whooping cough, polio, measles, Haemophilus influenzae, and rubella struck hundreds of thousands of infants, children and adults in the U.S.. Thousands died every year from them. As vaccines were developed and became widely used, rates of these diseases declined until today most of them are nearly gone from our country.”
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/whatifstop.htm
Ironically, vaccines along with antibiotics are big contributers to over population. Antibiotics become more ineffective every year and are going away. Evolution is a bitch.
GregT on Mon, 12th Jan 2015 9:17 pm
“I hope this site will get back to focus on peak oil.” “Also, did I mention this has nothing whatsoever to do with peak oil.”
That’s exactly what we need more of. Less competition.
Davy on Tue, 13th Jan 2015 6:17 am
Kanon said – “I hope this site will get back to focus on peak oil.” “Also, did I mention this has nothing whatsoever to do with peak oil.”
I feel doom and prep are a continuation and elaboration of the condition of PO. Doom is commenting on what is going to be a depletion effect to our daily lives. All locals are delocalized and supported by a complex global system that has oil as its foundational commodity. That is a profound statement folks. If we see that PO is showing a probability and likelihood of oils depletion and inability to support the global and by extensions each and every one of our locals then doom has a place on this site.
Strictly talking only about PO gives us only part of the picture for what matter. There is the further dynamics of PO then the normal PO dynamics of the oil sector we talk about here. There is the dynamics of oil as a foundational commodity that is absolutely vital to our complex global system which all our locals rely on. If you then except that doom is appropriate for a Peak Oil site then you should be open to a plan B.
We can look at plan B’s from the top or the bottom. We have discussed in multiple ways possible plan B’s at the top. Most of us have come to the conclusion top down plan B’s are futile. The global BAU world seems to be a runaway self-organizing complex system that will run its ecological course through natural systematic results. All civilizations and natural ecosystems run a cycle. This is science and history. If there is an exception to this seeming fact please enlighten me. Many articals here discuss the economic cornucopian folly of substitution and growth “Ad Infinitum”. I will include the geopolitical situations that are occurring as having validity concerning above ground POD. Often people complain about geopolitical discussions here and how they relate to PO. Financial system is another related discussion because of the interconnection of oil and the financial system.
At the more micro level of small communities, tribe, clan, and family then there is the plan B that can be call prep, lifeboat, transition community, alternative living. For my purposes I call it prep. Prep is related to PO via the individual’s response to PO dynamics effects on our local. We can actually call PO a existential threat to our locals and our global. We can take PO even further than that and say it is a species bottleneck or extinction threat.
We can rightly say depletion is happening and PO type conditions are appearing. What is difficult and a traditional drawback of PO discussions is the inevitable forecasting of timing and effects. The most recent oil price fluctuations case in point. How many predictions pointed to high prices instead of low prices? We do have Shorts prediction that basically mentioned prices were too high for too long and should be lower per depletion. In my mind PO is following Short’s theory along with the understanding of financial repressions part of the equation. I believe the systematic global situation too complex to model as far as timing of a bifurcation of our global BAU and degree and duration of a break to a lower level. I think most of us agree growth has hit limits and limits are expressed by diminishing returns to problem solving.
In conclusion those seeming off topic articles and discussions are very much on topic. If we accept the profound nature of oil and its depletion as a foundational commodity to our complex global system in which every delocalized local depends on then it is an imperative for survival that we discuss the doom and prep. IMA this should not be a doom dominated site. We rely on cornucopian (corns) to mitigate and balance our doomist discussions. Doom was preached 10 years ago and didn’t materialize as many of us thought although 08 was close.